THE 



CONSTITUTION OF MAN 



CONSIDERED IN 



RELATION TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS 



BY 

GEORGE COMBE. 



M Vain is the ridicule with which one sees some persons will divert them 
selves, upon finding lesser pains considered as instances of divine punishment 
There is no possibility of answering or evading the general thing here intended 
without denying all final causes." — Butler's Analogy t 

« 



FIFTH AMERICAN EDITION, MATERIALLY REVISED AND ENLARGED. 



BOSTON : 

SANBORN, CARTER, BAZIN & CO., 
25 & 29 CORNHILL. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by Marsh 
Cap en & Lyon, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Dis- 
trict of Massachusetts. 



By Trsnsfiir 

D. C. Public Library 

OCT 21 1938 



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PREFACE. 



This Essay would not have been presented to the Pub- 
lic, had I not believed that it contains views of the consti- 
tution, condition, and prospects of Man, which deserve 
attention; but these, I trust, are not ushered forth with 
any thing approaching to a presumptuous spirit. I lay no 
claim to originality of conception. My first notions of the 
natural laws were derived from a manuscript work of Dr. 
Spurzheim, with the perusal of which I was honored in 
1824. This work was afterwards published under the title 
of c A Sketch of the Natural Laws of Man, by G. Spurz- 
heim, M. D.' A comparison of the text of it with that of 
the following pages, will show to what extent I am indebt- 
ed to my late excellent and lamented master arid friend for 
my ideas on this subject. All my inquiries and medita- 
tions since have impressed me more and more with a con- 
viction of their importance. The materials employed lie 
open to all. Taken separately, I would hardly say that a 
new truth has been presented in the following work. The 
parts have all been admitted and employed again and 
again, by writers on morals, from Socrates down to the 
present day. In this respect, there is nothing new under 
the sun. The only novelty in this Essay respects the 
relations which acknowledged truths hold to each other. 
Physical laws of nature, affecting our physical condition, 
as well as regulating the whole material system of the 
universe, are universally acknowledged, and constitute 
the elements of natural philosophy and chemical science. 
Physiologists, medical practitioners, and all who take 



IV PREFACE. 

medical aid, admit the existence of organic laws: And the 
sciences of government, legislation, education, indeed our 
whole train of conduct through life, proceed upon the ad- 
mission of laws in morals. Accordingly, the laws of na- 
ture have formed an interesting subject of inquiry to phi- 
losophers of all ages; but, so far as I am aware, no author 
has hitherto attempted to point out, in a combined and 
systematic form, the relations between these laws and the 
constitution of Man; which must, nevertheless, be done, 
before our knowledge of them can be beneficially applied 
nor has any preceding author unfolded the independent 
operation of the several natural laws, and the practical 
consequences which follow from this fact. The great ob- 
ject of the following Essay is to exhibit these relations 
and consequences with a view to the improvement of 
education, and the regulation of individual and national 
conduct 

- But although my purpose is practical, a theory of Mind 
forms an essential element in the execution of the plan. 
Without it, no comparison can be instituted between the 
natural constitution* of man and external objects. Phre- 
nology appears to me to be the clearest, most complete, 
and best supported system of Human Nature, which has 
hitherto been taught; and I have assumed it as the basis 
of this Essay. But the practical value of the views now 
to be unfolded does not depend entirely on Phrenology. 
The latter, as a theory of Mind, is* itself valuable, only in 
so far as it is a just exposition of what previously existed 
in human nature. We are physical, organic, and moral 
beings, acting under the sanction of general laws, whether 
the connection of different mental qualities with particular 
portions of the brain, as taught by Phrenology, be admit- 
ted or denied. Individuals, under the impulse of passion, 
or by the direction of intellect, will hope, fear, wonder, 
perceive, and act, whether the degree in which they 
habitually do so be ascertainable by the means which it 
points out or not In so far, therefore, as this Essay 



PREFACE. 



treats cf the known qualities of Man, it may be. instructive 
even tflfchose who contemn Phrenology as unfounded; 
while it can prove useful to none, if the doctrines which it 
unfolds shall be found not to be in accordance with the 
principles of human nature, by whatever system these may 
be expounded. 

Some individuals object to all mental philosophy as 
useless, and argue, that, as Mathematics, Chemistry, and 
Botany, have become great sciences, without the least 
reference to the faculties by means of which they are cul- 
tivated, so Morals, Religion, Legislation and Political 
Economy haye existed, been improved, and may continue 
to advance with equal success, without any help from the 
philosophy of mind. Such objectors, however, should 
consider that lines, circles, and triangles, — earths, alkalis 
and acids, — and also corollas, stamens, pistils and stig- 
mas, are objects which exist independently of the mind, 
and may be investigated by the application of the mental 
powers, in ignorance of the constitution of the faculties 
themselves; — just as we .may practise archery without 
studying the anatomy of the hand; whereas the objects of 
moral and political philosophy are the qualities and actions 
of the mind itself : These objects have no existence inde- 
pendently of mind ; and they can no more be systematical- 
ly or scientifically understood without the knowledge of 
mental philosophy, than optics can be cultivated as a 
science in ignorance of the structure and modes of action 
of the eye. 

I have endeavored to avoid all religious controversy. 
'The object of Moral Philosophy,' says Mr. Stewart, c is 
to ascertain the general rules of a wise and virtuous con- 
duct in life, in so far as these rules may be discovered by 
the unassisted light of nature; that is, by an examination 
of the principles of the human constitution, and of the 
circumstances in which Man is placed.'* By following 
this method of inquiry, Dr. Hutcheson, Dr. Adam Smith, 

♦Outlines of Moral Philosophy, p. %. 

A* 



VI PREFACE. 

Dr. Reid, Mr. Stewart, and Dr. Thomas Brown, tetve, in 
succession, produced highly interesting and instructive 
works on Moral Science ; and the present Essay is a hum- 
ble attempt to pursue the same plan, with the aid of the 
new lights afforded by Phrenology. I confine "my obser- 
vations exclusively to man as he exists in the present 
world, and beg that, in perusing the subsequent pages, 
this explanation may be constantly kept in view. In con- 
sequence of forgetting it, my language has occasionally 
been misapprehended, and my objects misrepresented 
When I speak of man's 'highest interest,' for example, 
as on page 7, arid in other places, I uniformly refer to man 
as he exists in this world; but as the same God presides 
over both the temporal and the eternal interests of the hu- 
man race, it seems to me demonstrably certain, that what 
is conducive to the one, will in no instance impede the 
other, but will in general be favorable to it also. This 
work, however, does not directly embrace the interests of 
eternity. These belong to the department of theology, 
and demand a different line of investigation; I confine 
myself exclusively to philosophy. 

Since the first Edition of this work appeared, on 9th 
June 1828, additional attention has been paid to the study 
of the laws of Nature, and their importance has been more 
generally recognised. In ' A Discourse on the Studies 
of the University, by Adam Sedgwick, M. A., &c.' of 
which a third edition was published at Cambridge in 1834, 
the author remarks, that ' we are justified in saying, that, 
in the moral as in the physical world, God seems to gov- 
ern by general laws.' 'I am not now,' says he, ' con- 
tending for the doctrine of moral necessity ; but I do af- 
firm, that the moral government of God is by general laws, 
and that it is our bounden duty to study these laws, and, 
as far as we can, to turn them to account.' ' If there be a 
superintending Providence, and if his will be manifested 
by general laws operating both on the physical and moral 
world, then must a violation of these laws be a violation 



PREFACE. VU 

of his will, and be pregnant with inevitable misery.' 
1 Nothing, can, in the end, be expedient for man, except 
it be subordinate to those laws the Author of Nature has 
thought fit to impress on his moral and physical creation.' 
• In the end, high principle and sound policy will be found 
in the strictest harmony with each other. 

These are precisely the views which it is the object of 
the present work to enforce; and it is gratifying to me to 
see them so ably and eloquently recommended to the 
attention of the students of the University of Cambridge 

23 Charlotte Square, 
Edinburgh, 31st March 1835. 



PREFACE 
TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 

In presenting the present edition of c The Constitution 
of Man 1 to the American public, I beg leave to return my 
warmest acknowledgments for the favor with which they 
have received both this and my other works. There is so 
much vigorous thinking, practical sense, and bold enter- 
prise in the general public of the United States, that their 
approbation of the views which I have from time to time 
offered for their consideration, has increased not a little 
my own reliance on the truth and utility of my opinions ; 
and in preparing the present edition for the press, I have 
been animated throughout by the desire to render it worthy 
of the approbation of my transatlantic friends. I have not 
found it necessary to alter any essential principle adopted 
in the first edition. On the contrary, seven years of ad- 
ditional observation, discussion, and reflection, have tend- 
ed only to accumulate new evidence in favor of the prop- 
ositions maintained. I have, however, corrected as far as 
possible the style of the work, inserted new proofs and il- 
lustrations, and added three chapters entirely new — those 
on 'Punishment as inflicted under the Natural Laws,' on 
'the Influence of the Natur 1 Laws on Individual Happi- 
ness,' and on 'the Relat ; n between Science and Scrip- 
ture.' I believe the pe< yie of the United States to have 
advanced farther towa ds the practical application of the 
principles developed \i the following work, than any other 
nation; and if it shall in any degree serve to animate and 
direct them in their future progress towards happiness and 
virtue, the highest object of my ambition will be gained. 

23 Charlotte Square, 
Edinburgh, 31st March 1835 



HENDERSON BEQJLSST. 



On 27th May 1829, the late W. R. Henderson, Esq. younger 
of Warriston and Eildon Hall, executed a deed of settlement, by 
which he conveyed to certain trustees such funds as he should 
die possessed of; and, in the event of his dying without leaving 
children, he appointed them to pay certain legacies and annui- 
ties to individual friends, and gave the following instructions re- 
garding the application of the residue of his funds. 

1 And, lastly, the whole residue of my means and estate shall 
after answering the purposes above written, be applied by my 
said trustees in whatever manner they may judge best for the 
advancement and diffusion of the science of Phrenology, and the 
practical application thereof in particular; giving hereby and 
committing to my said trustees, the most full and unlimited pow- 
er to manage and dispose of the said residue, in whatever man- 
ner shall appear to them best suited to promote the ends in view! 
Declaring, that if I had less confidence in my trustees, I would 
make it imperative on them, to print and publish one or more 
editions of an " Essay on the Constitution of Man, considered in 
relation to External Objects, by George Combe," — in a cheap 
form, so as to be easily purchased by the more intelligent indi- 
viduals of the poorer classes, and Mechanics' Institutions, &c. 
but that I consider it better only to request their particular atten- 
tion to this suggestion, and to leave them quite at liberty to act 
as circumstances may seem to them to render expedient ; seeing 
that the state of the country, and things impossible to foresee, 
may make what would be of unquestionable advantage now, not 
advisable at some future period of time. But if my decease shall 
happen before any material change affecting this subject, I re- 
quest them to act agreeably to my suggestion. And I think it 
proper here to declare, that I dispose of the residue of my prop- 
erty in the above manner, not from my being carried away by a 
transient fit of enthusiasm, but from a deliberate, calm, and deep- 
rooted conviction, that nothing whatever hitherto known can 
operate so powerfully to the improvement and happiness of man- 



K HENDERSON BEQUEST. 

kind, as the knowledge and practical adoption of the principles 
disclosed by Phrenology, and particularly of those which are 
developed in the Essay on the Constitution of Man, above men- 
tioned.' 

Mr. Henderson died on 28th May 1832, and his Trustees, 
having recently realized his funds, have assigned a sum for pub- 
lishing an edition of the present work in a cheap form. The 
ordinary selling price of this volume would have been ; and 
they have contributed so much towards the expense of it as to 
lower the price to , which they hope will place it within 

the reach of the operative classes of the United Kingdom, and 
fulfil the intention of^the testator. This has been named the 
ft Henderson Edition," to distinguish it from a separate impres- 
sion intended for sale to the general public ; and those who de- 
sire to obtain the cheap edition are requested to order it by this 
appellation. 

It may be proper to explain to readers who take an interest in 
the progress of Phrenology, that the annuitants for whom Mr. 
Henderson designed his funds in the first instance, are all alive, 
and likely to live for many years ; and that during their lives 
only a small annual surplus will remain applicable to the promo- 
tion of this science. The contribution to the present work has 
anticipated that surplus for more than one year. 



CONTENTS. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

SENERAL VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, AND 

ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS, . . . Page J 

CHAPTER I. 

ON NATURAL LAWS, ... . 27 

CHAPTER II. 

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN, AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL 

OBJECTS, 42 

Sect. I. Man considered as a Physical Being, . . . .43 
II. Man considered as an Organized Being, . , .46 

III. Man considered as an Animal— Moral — and Intellect- 

ual Being, . . . . . " . . .51 

IV. The Faculties of Man compared with each other ; or 

the Supremacy of the Moral Sentiments and Intel- 
lect, . . . .55 

V. The Faculties of Man compared with External Objects, 77 

CHAPTER III. 

ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, AND THE CONDITIONS 

REQUISITE FOR MAINTAINING IT, 84 

CHAPTER IV. 

1PPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO THE PRACTICAL ARRANGE- 
MENTS OF LIFE, 97 



rii CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

TO WHAT EXTENT ARE fHE MISERIES OF MANKIND REFERABLE TO 

INFRINGEMENTS OF THE LAWS OF NATURE ? ... 109 

Sect. I. Calamities arising from infringements of the Physi- 
cal Laws, . ... 110 
II. On the Evils that Befall Mankind from infringement 

of the Organic Laws, 115 

III. Calamities arising from infringement of the Moral 

Law, 203 

CHAPTER VI. 

ON PUNISHMENT, ..... . . 260 

Sect. I. On Punishment as inflicted under the Natural Laws, ib. 
II. Moral Advantages of Punishment, . 287 

CHAPTER VII. 

ON THE COMBINEDOPERATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS, . . 292 

CHAPTER VIII. 

INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS ON THE HAPPINESS OF 1NDI 

VIDUALS, 313 

CHAPTER IX. 

ON THE RELATION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE, . . 325 
CONCLUSION, 352 



APPENDIX. 

Note I. Natural Laws, 367 

II. Organic Laws, 371 

HI. Hereditary Transmission of Qualities, . . . 372 
IV. Laws Relative to Marriage and Education in Ger 

many, . 379 

l L Death, . . . . . 383 

IV. Infringement of the Moral Laws, • 390 

Index, . . 393 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 

GENERAL VIEW OP THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, 
AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 

In surveying the external world, we discover that every 
creature and every physical object has received a definite 
constitution, and been placed in certain relations to other 
objects. The natural evidence of a Deity and his attr - 
butes is drawn from contemplating these arrangement 
Intelligence, wisdom, benevolence, and power, characte 
ize the works of creation; and the human mind ascencr 
by a chain of correct and rigid induction to a great Fir? 
Cause, in whom these qualities must reside. But hither 
to this great truth has excited a sublime yet barren admi 
ration, rather than led to beneficial practical results. 

Man obviously stands pre-eminent among sublunary 
objects, and is distinguished by remarkable endowments 
above all other terrestrial beings. Nevertheless no crea- 
ture presents such anomalous appearances as man. View- 
ed in one aspect he almost resembles a demon; in another 
he still bears the impress of the image of God. Seen in 
his crimes, his wars, and his devastations, he might be 
mistaken for an incarnation of an evil spirit ; contemplat- 
ed in his schemes of charity, his discoveries in science, 
and his vast combinations for the benefit of his race, he 
seems a bright intelligence* from Heaven. The lower 
animals exhibit a more simple and regulated constitution. 
The l'on is bold and ferocious, but he is regularly so; and, 
besides, is placed in circumstances suited to his nature, 
in which at once scope is given and limits are set to the 
gratification of his instincts. The sheep, as a contrast, 

1 



2 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, 

is mild, feeble, and inoffensive; but its external condition 
also is suited to its constitution, and it apparently lives 
and flourishes in as great enjoyment as the lion. The 
same remarks apply to all the inferior creatures; and the 
idea which I wish particularly to convey is, that their 
bodily organs, faculties, instincts, and external circum- 
stances, form parts of a system in which adaptation and 
harmony are discoverable; and that the enjoyment of the 
animals depends on the adaptation of their constitution 
to their external condition. If we saw the lion one day 
tearing in pieces every animal that crossed its path, and 
the next oppressed with remorse for the death of its vic- 
tims, or compassionately healing those whom it had man- 
gled, we should exclaim, what an inconsistent creature! 
and conclude that it could not by possibility be happy, 
owing to this opposition among the principles of its nature. 
In short, we should be strikingly convinced that two con- 
ditions are essential to enjoyment; first, that the different 
instincts of an animal must be in harmony with each 
other; and, secondly, that its whole constitution must be 
in accordance with its external condition. 

When, keeping these principles in view, we direct our 
attention to Man, very formidable anomalies present them- 
selves. The most opposite instincts or impulses exist in 
his mind; actuated by Combativeness, Destructiveness, 
Acquisitiveness, and Self-Esteem, the moral sentiments 
being in abeyance, he is almost a fiend; on the contrary, 
when inspired by Benevolence, Veneration, Hope, Consci- 
entiousness, Ideality, and Intellect, the benignity, seren- 
ity, and splendor, of a highly-elevated nature beam from 
his eye, and radiate from his countenance. He is then 
lovely, noble, and gigantically great. But how shall these 
conflicting tendencies be reconciled? And how can ex- 
ternal circumstances be devised that shall accord with 
such heterogeneous elements? Here again a conviction 
of the power and goodness of the Deity comes to our as- 
sistance. Man is obviously an essential and most impor- 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 3 

tant part of the present system of creation, and, without 
doubting of his future destinies, we ought not, so long as 
our knowledge of his nature is incomplete, to consider his 
condition here as inexplicable. The nature of man has 
hitherto, to all philosophical purposes, been unknown, 
and both the designs of the Creator and the situation of 
man have been judged of ignorantly and rashly. The 
skeptic has advanced arguments against religion, and crafty 
deceivers have, in all ages, founded systems of superstition, 
on the disorder and inconsistency which are too readily 
admitted to be inseparable attributes of human existence 
on earth. But I venture to hope that man will yet bo 
found in harmony with himself and with his condition. 

I am aware that some individuals, whose piety I re- 
spect, conceive, that as the great revolutions of human 
•society, as well as all events in the lives of individuals, 
take place under the guidance of the Deity, it is presumpt- 
uous, if not impious, in man to endeavor to scan their 
causes and effects. But it is obvious that the Creator 
governs man with reference to the faculties bestowed on 
him. The young swallow, when it migrates on the ap- 
proach of the first winter of its life, is impelled by an in- 
stinct implanted by the Deity, and it can neither know the 
causes that prompt it to fly, nor the end to be attained by 
its flight. But its mental constitution is wisely adapted 
to this condition; for it has no powers stimulating it to 
reflect on itself and external objects, and to inquire 
whence came its desires, or to what object they tend. 
Man, however, has been framed differently. The Crea- 
tor has bestowed on him faculties to observe phenomena, 
and to trace cause and effect; and he has constituted the 
external world to afford scope to these powers. We are en- 
titled, therefore, to say, that it is the Creator himself who 
has commanded us to observe and inquire into the causes 
that prompt us to act, and the 'results that will naturally 
follow; and to adapt our conduct according to what wt 
shall discover. 



4 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, 

To enable us to form a just estimate of our duty and 
interest as the rational occupants of this world, we may 
inquire briefly into the constitution of external nature, 
and of ourselves. 

The constitution of this world does not look like a sys- 
tem of optimism. It appears to be arranged in all its de- 
partments on the principle of gradual and progressive im- 
provement. Physical nature itself has undergone many 
revolutions, and apparently has constantly advanced. 
Geology seems to show a distinct preparation* of it for 
successive orders of living beings, rising higher and 
higher in the scale of intelligence and organization, until 
man appeared. 

The globe, in the first state in which the imagination 
can venture to consider it, says Sir H. Davy,* appears 
to have been a fluid mass, with an immense atmosphere 
revolving in space round the sun. By its cooling, a por- 
tion of its atmosphere was probably condensed into water, 
which occupied a part of its surface. In this state no 
forms of life, such as now belong to our system, could 
have inhabited it. The crystalline rocks, or, as they are 
called by geologists, the primary rocks, which contain no 
vestiges of a former order of things, were the result of 
ihe first consolidation on its surface. Upon the farther 
cooling, the water, which, more or less, had covered it, 
contracted; depositions took place; shell-fish and coral 
insects were created, and began their labors. Islands 
appeared in the midst of the ocean, raised from the deep 
by the productive energies of millions of zoophytes. 

* The description in the text is extracted chiefly from " The last 
days of a Philosopher," by Sir Humphrey Davy, 1831, p. 134, on ac- 
count of its popular style ; but similar representations may be found 
in several recent works on Geology, — particularly " A Geological 
Manual, by H. T. De La Beche ;" the Penny Magazine of 1833, in a 
very instructive popular form; and in Sedgwick's Discourse on the 
Studies of the University of Cambridge, third edition. Mr. Lyell, 
however, in his Principles of Geology, vol. i. ch. ix. controverts tho 
doctrine of a progressive development of plants and aninals. 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 5 

These islands became covered with vegetables fitted to 
bear a high temperature, such as palms, and various spe- 
cies of plants, similar to those which now exist in the hot- 
test parts of the world. The submarine rocks of these 
new formations of land became covered with aquatic ve- 
getables, on which various species of shell-fish, and com- 
mon fishes, found their nourishment. As the temperature 
of the globe became lower, species of the oviparous ren- 
tiles appear to'have been created to inhabit it; and the 
turtle, crocodile, and various gigantic animals of the 
Sauri (lizard) kind seem to have haunted the bays and 
waters of the primitive lands. But in this state of things, 
there appears to have*been no order of events similar to 
the present. Immense volcanic explosions seems to have 
taken place, accompanied by elevations and depressions 
of the surface of the globe, producing mountains, and 
causing new and extensive depositions from the primitive 
ocean. The remains of living beings, plants, fishes, birds, 
%nd oviparous reptiles, are found in the strata of rocks 
which are the monuments and evidence of these changes. 
When these revolutions became less frequent, and the 
globe became still more cooled, and inequalities of tem- 
perature were established by means of the mountain 
chains, more perfect animals became its inhabitants, such 
as the mammoth, megalonix, megatherium, and gigantic 
hyena, many of which have become extinct. Five suc- 
cessive races of plants, and fotir successive races of ani- 
mals, appear to have been created and swept away by the 
physical revolutions of the globe, before the system 
of things became so permanent as to fit the world for man. 
In none of these formations, whether called secondary, 
tertiary, or diluvial, have the fossil remains of man, or 
any of his works, been discovered. At last, man was 
created, and since that period there has been little altera- 
tion in the physical circumstances of the globe. 

" In all these various formations," says Dr. Buckland, 
" the coprolites" (or the dung of the saurian reptiles in 

1* B 



6 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NaTURE, 

a fossil state, exhibiti ig scales of fishes and other traces 
of the prey which they had devoured) iS form records of 
warfare waged by successive generations of inhabitants 
of our planet on one another; and the general law of na- 
ture, which bids all to eat and be eaten in their turn, is 
shown to have been co-extensive with animal existence 
upon our globe j the camivora in each period of the world's 
history fulfilling their destined office to check excess in 
the progress of life, and maintain the balance of creation.' 

This brief summary of the physical changes of the 
Globe, is not irrelevant to our present object. The more 
that is discovered of creation, thg more conspicuously 
does uniformity of design appear to pervade its every 
department. We perceive here the physical world grad- 
ually improved and prepared for man. 

Let us now contemplate Man himself, and his adapta- 
tion to the external creation. The world, we have seen, 
was inhabited by living beings, and death and reproduc- 
tion prevailed before Man appeared. The order of crea- 
tion seems not to have been changed at his introduction: 
— he appears to have been adapted to it. He receive* 
from his Creator an organized structure, and animal in- 
stincts. He took his station among, yet at the head of, 
the beings that existed at his creation. Man is to a certai 
extent an animal in his structure, powers, feelings, anc 
desires, and is adapted to a world in which death reigns 
and generation succeeds generation. This fact, although 
so trite and obvious as to appear scarcely worthy of being 
noticed, is of importance in treating of Man; because the 
human being, in so far as he resembles the inferior crea- 
tures, is capable of enjoying a life like theirs: he h 
pleasure in eating, drinking, sleeping, and exercising hi 
limbs; and one of the greatest obstacles to improvement 
is, that many of the race are contented with these enjoy- 
ments, and consider it painful to be compelled to seek 
higher sources of gratification. But to man's animal na- 
ture, have been added, by a bountiful Creator, moral sen- 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 7 

timents and reflecting faculties, which not only place him 
above all other creatures on earth, but constitute him a 
different being from any of them, a rational and accounta- 
ble creature. These faculties are his highest and his best 
gifts, and the sources of his purest and intensest pleasures. 
They lead him directly to the great objects of his exist- 
ence, — obedience to God, and love to his fellow men. 
But this peculiarity attends them, that while his animal 
faculties act powerfully of themselves, his rational faculties 
require to be cultivated, exercised, and instructed, before 
they will yield their full harvest of enjoyment- 

The Creator has so arranged the external world as to 
hold forth every possible inducement to man to cultivate 
his higher powers, nay almost to constrain him to do so. 
The philosophic mind, in surveying the world as prepar- 
ed for the reception of the human race, perceives in exter- 
nal nature a vast assemblage of stupendous powers, too 
great for the feeble hand of man entirely to control, but 
kindly subjected within certain limits to the influence of 
his will.* Man is introduced on earth apparently helpless 
and unprovided for as a homeless stranger; but the soil 
on which he treads is endowed with a thousand capabili- 
ties of production, which require only to be excited by . 
his intelligence to yield him the most ample returns. The 
impetuous torrent rolls its waters to the main; but as it 
dashes over the mountain-cliff, the human hand is capable 
of withdrawing it from its course, and bending its powers 
subsefvient to his will. Ocean extends over half the 
globe her liquid plain, in which no path appears, and the 
rude winds oft lift her waters to the sky ; but, there the 
skill of man may launch the strong knit bark, spread forth 
the canvass to the gale, and make the trackless deep a 
highway through the world. In such a state of things, 
knowledge is truly power; and the highest interest of 
human beings is to become acquainted with the constitu- 
tions and relations of every object around them, that they 
may discover its capabilities of ministering to their own 



8 VIEW OF TOE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN MATURE, 

advantage. Farther, where these physical energies are 
too great to be controlled, man has received intelligence 
by which he may observe their course, and accommodate 
his conduct to their influence. This capacity of adapta- 
tion is a valuable substitute for the power of regulating 
them by his will. Man cannot arrest the sun in its course, 
so as to avert the wintry storms and cause perpetual spring 
to bloom around him; but, by the proper exercise of his 
intelligence and corporeal energies, he is able to foresee 
the approach of bleak skies and rude winds, and to place , 
himself in safety from their injurious effects. These pow- 
ers of controlling nature, and of accommodating his con- 
duct to its course, are the direct results of his rational fac- 
ulties; and in proportion to their cultivation is his sway 
extended. If the rain falls, and the wind blows, and the 
ocean billows lash against the mere animal, it must en- 
dure them all; because it cannot control their action, nor 
protect itself by art from their power. Man, while 
ignorant, continues in a condition almost equally helpless. 
But let him put forth his proper human capacities, and he 
then finds himself invested with the power to rear, to 
build, to fabricate, and to store up provisions; and by 
availing himself of these resources, and accommodating 
his conduct to the course of nature's laws, he is able to 
smile in safety beside the cheerful hearth, when the ele- 
ments maintain their fiercest war abroad. 

Again: We are surrounded by countless beings, infe- 
rior and equal to ourselves, whose qualities yield us the 
greatest happiness, or bring upon us the bitterest evil, ac- 
cording as we affect them agreeably or disagreeably by 
our conduct. To draw forth all their excellences, and 
cause them to diffuse joy around us — to avoid touching- 
the harsher springs of their constitution, and bringing 
painful discord to our ears — it is indispensably necessary 
that we know the nature of our fellows, and act with a 
habitual regard to the relations established by the Crea 
tor betwixt ourselves and them. 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 9 

Man, ignorant and uncivilized, is a ferocious, sensual, 
and superstitious savage. The external world affords 
some enjoyments to his animal feelings, but it confounds 
his moral and intellectual faculties. External nature ex- 
hibits to his mind a mighty chaos of events, and a dread 
display of power. The chain of causation appears too 
intricate to be unravelled, and the power too stupendous 
to be controlled. Order and beauty, indeed, occasional- 
ly gleam forth to his eye, from detached portions of crea- 
tion,- and seem to promise happiness and joy; but more 
frequently, clouds and darkness brood over the scene, 
and disappoint his fondest expectations. Evil seems so 
mixed up with good, that he regards it either as its direct 
product or its inseparable accompaniment. Nature is 
never contemplated with a clear perception of its adapta- 
tion to the purpose of promoting the true enjoyment of 
man, or with a well founded confidence in the wisdom and 
benevolence of its Author. Man, when civilized and il- 
luminated by knowledge, on the other hand, discovers in 
the objects and occurrences around him, a scheme beau- 
tifully arranged for the gratification of his whole powers, 
animal, moral, and intellectual; he recognises in himself 
die intelligent and accountable subject of an all-bountiful 
Creator, and in joy and gladness desires to study the 
Creator's works, to ascertain his laws, and to yield to 
them a steady and a willing obedience. Without under- 
valuing the pleasures of his animal nature, he tastes the 
higher, more refined, and more enduring delights of his 
moral and intellectual capacities, and he then calls aloud 
for Education as indispensable to the full enjoyment of 
his rational powers. 

If this representation of the condition of the human 
being on earth be correct, we perceive clearly the un- 
speakable advantage of applying our minds to gain know- 
ledge of our own constitution and that of external nature, 
and of regulating our conduct according to rules drawn 
from the information acquired. Our constitution and our 



10 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF kUMAN NATURE, 

position equally imply, that the grand object of our exis- 
tence is, not to remain contented with the pleasures of 
mere animal life, but to take the dignified and far more 
delightful station of moral and rational occupants of this 
'ower world. 

If the physical history of the globe clearly indicates 
progression in an advancing series of changes, the civil 
history of man equally proclaims the march, although often 
vacillating and slow, of moral and intellectual improve- 
ment. To avoid too extensive an inquiry, unsuitable to 
an introductory discourse, let us confine our attention to 
the aspects presented by society in our native country. 

At the time of the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of 
Britain lived as savages, and appeared in painted skins. 
After the Norman conquest, one part of the nation was 
placed in the condition of serfs, and condemned to labor 
like beasts of burden, while another devoted themselves 
to war. They fought battles during day, and in the night 
probably dreamed of bloodshed and broils. These gene- 
rations severally believed their own condition to be the 
permanent and inevitable lot of man. Next, however, 
have come the present arrangements of society, in 
which millions of men are shut up in cotton and other 
manufactories for ten or twelve hours a-day; others 
labor under ground in mines; others plough the fields; 
while thousands of higher rank pass their whole lives in 
idleness and dissipation. Now, the elementary principles, 
both of mind and body, were the same in our painted an- 
cestors, in their chivalrous descendants, and in us, their 
shopkeeping, manufacturing, and money-gathering chil- 
dren. Yet how different the external circumstances ol 
the individuals of these several generations! If, in the 
savage state, the internal faculties of man were in harmony 
among themselves, and if his external condition was in 
accordance with them, Jie must then have enjoyed all the 
happiness that his nature admitted of, and he must have 
erred when he changed; or, if the institutions and customs 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 11 

of the age of chivalry were calculated to gratify his whole 
nature harmoniously, he must have been unhappy as a 
savage, and must be miserable now; if his present condi- 
tion be the perfection of his nature, he must have been far 
from enjoyment, both as a savage and a feudal warrior ; 
and if none of these conditions have been in accordance 
with his constitution, he must still have his happiness to 
seek. Every age, accordingly, has testified that it was 
not in possession of contentment ; and the question presents 
itself, If human nature has received a definite constitution, 
and if one arrangement of external circumstances be more 
suited to yield it gratification than another, — what are 
that constitution and that arrangement ? No one can tell. 
And in what respects have we in times past departed, 
and do we now depart, from them? The answer is in- 
volved in equal obscurity. How has it happened that, in 
all their various changes, the British have never succeed- 
ed in satisfying themselves with their condition? Why 
did they institute the savage state ? It was not fixed by the 
Creator as the permanent condition of man, otherwise they 
could not have escaped from it. The bear and the wolf, 
the ox and the camel, do not change their states and avo- 
cations as men have done. What prompted them to be- 
take themselves to war as their most honorable employment ? 
Again we say that that condition was not the ultimate lot 
of man, because it also has changed. And what has led 
us now to spin and weave, to hammer and construct, for 
all the nations of the globe? We answer, that this state 
may also disappear, and then it will not be regarded as 
the ne plus ultra of human enjoyment. Farther, if we have 
not reached the limits of attainable perfection, what are 
we next to attempt ? Are we and our posterity to spin 
and weave, build ships, and speculate in commerce, as 
the highest occupations to which human nature can aspire, 
and persevere in these labors till the end of time? Or if 
changes are to follow, we may ask, who instituted the 
changes which history records ? On what principles were 



12 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, 

they regulated ? And who shall guide the helm in out 
future voyage on the ocean of existence ? The British are 
here cited as a type of mankind at large ; for in every age 
and every clime similar races have been run, and with 
similar conclusions. Only one answer can be returned 
to these inquiries. Man is evidently a progressive being; 
and the Creator having designed a higher path for him 
than for the lower creatures, has given him intellect to dis- 
cover his own nature and that of external objects, and left 
him, by the exercise of it and his other powers, to find 
out for himself the method of placing his faculties in 
harmony among themselves, and in accordance with the 
external world. Time and experience are necessary to 
accomplish these ends, and history exhibits the human race 
only in a state of progress towards the full development 
of their powers, and the attainment of rational enjoyment. 
As long as man remained ignorant of his own nature, 
he could not of design form his institutions in accordance 
with it. Until his own faculties became the subjects of 
his observation, and their relations the objects of his 
reflection, they operated as mere instincts. He adopted 
savage habits, because his animal propensities were not at 
first directed by moral sentiment or enlightened by reflec- 
tion. He next adopted the condition of the barbarian, 
because his higher powers had made some advances, but 
had not yet attained supremacy; and he now manufac- 
tures, because his constructive faculties and intellect have 
given him power over physical nature, while his Acqui- 
sitiveness and Ambition are predominant, and are gratified 
by these avocations. Not one of these changes, however,, 
has been adopted from design, or from perception of its 
suitableness to the nature of man. He has been ill at 
ease in them all ; but it does not follow that he shall con- 
tinue for ever equally ignorant of his nature, and equally 
incapable of framing institutions to harmonize with it. 
The simple facts, that the Creator has bestowed on man 
reason capable of discovering his own nature, and its re- 



. 



AND ITS RELATIONE TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS 13 

ations to external objects; that He has left him to apply 
it in framing suitable institutions to ensure his happiness, 
that, nevertheless, man has hitherto been ignorant of hig 
nature and of its relations, and that, in consequence, his 
modes of life have never been adopted from enlightened 
views of his whole capacities and qualities, but sprung up 
from the instinctive ascendency of orre blind propensity or 
another, — warrant us in saying, that a new era will begin 
when man shall be enabled to study his own nature and 
its relations with success; and that the future may exhibit 
him assuming his station as a rational creature, pursuing 
his own happiness with intelligence and design, and at 
length attaining higher gratification to his whole faculties 
than he has hitherto enjoyed. 

The inquiry next naturally presents itself, What has 
been the cause of the human race remaining for so many 
ages unacquainted with their own nature and its relations ? 
The answer is, that, before the discovery of the functions 
of the brain, they did not know how to study these sub- 
jects in a manner calculated to attain to true principles 
and practical results. The philosophy of man was con- 
ducted as a speculative, and not as an inductive science; 
and even when attempts were made at induction, the man- 
ner in which they were conducted was at variance with 
the fundamental requisites of a sound philosophy.* In con- 
sequence, even the most enlightened nations have never 
possessed any practical philosophy of mind, but have 
been bewildered amidst countless contradictory theories. 

In our own country two views of the constitution of 
the world and of human nature have long been prevalent 
differing widely from each other, and which, if legitimate* 
ly followed out, would lead to distinct practical results. 
The one is, that the world contains the elements of im- 
provement within itself, which time will evolve and bring 
to maturity; it having been constituted by the Creator on 

* See Svstem of Phrenology, Third Edition, p. 40. 



14 VIEW Of THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, 

the principle of a progressive system, like the acorn in 
teference to the oak. This hypothesis ascribes to the 
power and wisdom of the Divine Being the whole pheno 
mena which nature, animate and inanimate, exhibits; be- 
cause, in conferring on each part the specific qualities and 
constitution which belong to it, and in placing it in the 
circumstances in which it is found, He is assumed to have 
designed, from the first, the whole results which these 
qualities, constitution, and circumstances, are calculated 
in time to produce. There is no countenance given to 
atheism by this system. On the contrary, it affords the 
richest and most comprehensive field imaginable, for 
tracing the evidence of Divine power, wisdom, and good- 
ness in creation. 

The other hypothesis is, that the world was perfect at 
the first, but fell into derangement, continues in disorder 
and does not contain within itself the elements of its own 
rectification. 

If the former view be sound, the first object of man, 
an intelligent being in quest of happiness, must be to stud; 
the elements of external nature and their capabilities; th 
elementary qualities of his own nature, and their applica- 
tions; and the relationship between these. His secone 
object will be to discover and carry into effect the con- 
ditions, physical, moral, and intellectual, which, in virtue 
of this constitution, require to be realized before the 
fullest enjoyment of which he is capable can be attained. 

According to the second view of creation, nothing of 
good can be expected from the evolution of nature's ele 
ments, these being all essentially disordered; and human 
improvement and enjoyment must be derived chiefly from 
spiritual influences. If the one hypothesis be sound, 
man must fulfil the natural conditions requisite to the ex- 
istence of religion, morality, and happiness, before he can 
reap full benefit from religious truth: according to the 
other, he must believe aright in religion, and be the sub- 
ject of spiritual influences independent of natural causes. 



• 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 15 

before he can become capable of any virtue or enjoyment; 
in short, according to the' latter hypothesis, sciences, phi- 
losophy, and all arrangements of the physical, moral, and 
intellectual elements of nature, are subordinate in their 
effects on human happiness on earth, to religious faith. 

It appears to me extremely difficult to reconcile these 
conflicting views. 

The theologians who condemned the natural world, 
«ived in an age when there was no sound philosophy, and 
almost no knowledge of physical science; they were un- 
avoidably ignorant of the elementary qualities of human 
nature, and of the influence of organization on the mental 
powers; — ^-the great link which connects the moral and 
physical worlds. They were unacquainted with the re- 
lations subsisting between the mind and external nature, 
and could not by possibility divine to what extent individ- 
uals and society were capable of being improved by nat- 
ural means. In the history of man, they had read chiefly 
of misery and crime, and had in their own age beheld 
much of both. They were, therefore, naturally led to 
form a low estimate of human nature, and to expect little 
good from the cultivation of its inherent capabilities. 
These views appear to me to have influenced their inter- 
pretations of scripture; and having once been entwined 
with religious sentiments, they have descended from gen- 
eration to generation: In consequence, persons of sincere 
piety, have, for several centuries, been induced to look 
down on this world as a wilderness abounding with briars, 
weeds, and noxious things, and to direct their chief atten- 
tiou, not to the study of its elements and their relations, 
in the hope of reducing them to order, but to enduring 
the disorder with patience and resignation, and to secur- 
ing, by faith and penitence, salvation in a future life. 
It has never been with them a practical principle, that 
human nature itself may be vastly improved in its moral 
and intellectual capacities, by those means which Phys- 
iology and Phrenology have recently opened up to us; 



16 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, 

nor that buman nature and the external world are adjust 
ed on the principle of favoring the development of the 
higher powers of our minds; nor that the study of the 
constitution of nature is indispensable to human improve- 
ment; nor that this .world and its professions and pursuits 
might be rendered favorable to virtue by searching out 
the natural qualities of its elements, their relationship, 
and the moral plan on which God has constituted and 
governs it. Some philosophers and divines having failed 
to discover a consistent order or plan in the moral world, 
have rashly concluded that none such exists, or that it is 
inscrutable. It appears never to have occurred to them 
that it is impossible to comprehend a whole system with- 
out becoming acquainted with its parts; these persons 
have been ignorant of the physiology of man, of the phi- 
losophy of man, of the philosophy of external nature, and 
their relations, and nevertheless have not perceived tha 
this extensive ignorance of the details, rendered it im- 
possible for them to comprehend the plan of the whole. 
Hence they have involved themselves in contradictions; 
for while it has been a practical principle with them, that 
enjoyment in a future state is to be the consequence of 
the believer attaining to a holy and pious frame of mind 
in this life ; they have represented the constitution of the 
world to be so unfavorable to piety and virtue, that men 
in general, who continue attached to it, cannot attain to 
this right frame of spirit, or acf habitually in consistency 
with it. They have not had philosophy sufficient to per- 
ceive that man must live in society to be either virtuous, 
useful, or happy; that the social atmosphere is to the 
mind what air is to the lungs; that while an individual 
cannot exist to virtuous ends out of society, he cannot 
exist in a right frame in it, if the moral atmosphere with 
which he is surrounded be deeply contaminated with vice 
and error. Individual merchants, for example, cannot 
act habitually on Christian principles, if the maxims of 
their trade be not Christian; and if the world be so unfa 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 17 

/orably constituted that it does not admit of the rules of 
trade becoming Christian, then active life and practical 
religion are naturally opposed to each other. Divines 
Lave laboriously recommended spiritual exercises as 
means of improvement in this life and of salvation in the 
next; but have rarely dealt with the philosophy of this 
world, or attempted its rectification, so as to render these 
exercises truly efficacious. Their minds have been in- 
fected with the first great error, that this world is irreme- 
diably defective in its constitution, and that human hope 
must be concentrated entirely on the next. This may 
be attributed to the premature formation of a system of 
theology in the dawn of civilization, before the qualities 
of the physical world, and the elements of the moral world 
and their relationship, were known; and to erroneous in- 
terpretations of Scripture in consequence, partly, of that 
ignorance. 

Now, if the discovery of the philosophy of mind, foun- 
ded on the functions of the brain, is to operate at all in 
favor of human improvement, one of the most striking ef- 
fects which it will produce, will be the lifting up of the veil 
which has so long concealed the natural world, its capa- 
bilities and importance, from the eyes of divines. To alt 
practical ends connected with theo^gy, the philosophy o " 
nature might as well not exist: With few exceptions 
the sermons preached a century ago are equal, if not su 
perior, in sense and suitableness to human nature, to those 
delivered yesterday ; and yet, in the interval, the human 
mind has made vast advances in knowledge of the works 
of creation. Divines have frequently applied scientific 
discoveries in proving the existence and developing the 
character of the Deity; but they have failed in' applying 
either the discoveries themselves, or the knowledge of 
the Divine character obtained by means of them, to the 
construction of any practical system of mental philosophy, 
capable of combining harmoniously with religion, and 
promoting the improvement of the human race 

<2* 



18 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, 

This, however, Phrenology will enable them one day to 
do. In surveying the world itself, the phrenologist per- 
ceives that the Creator has bestowed elementary qualities 
on the human mind, and on external objects, and estab- 
lished certain relations between them; that these faculties 
have been incessantly operating according to their inhe- 
rent tendencies, generally aiming at good, always desir- 
ing it, but often missing it through pure ignorance and 
blindness, yet capable of attaining it when enlightened 
and properly directed. The baneful effects of ignorance 
are every where apparent. Three-fourths of the mental 
faculties have direct reference to this world, and in their 
functions appear to have no intelligible relation to another, 
such are Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, Combative 
ness, Destructiveness, Constructiveness, Acquisitiveness, 
Secretiveness, Self-Esteem, and others; while the remain- 
ing fourth have reference at once to this life and to a 
higher state of existence, such are Benevolence, Ideality, 
Wonder, Veneration, Hope, Conscientiousness, and Intel- 
lect. To guide and successfully apply the first class of 
faculties to the promotion of human happiness, it appears 
indispensable that the faculties themselves, the physical 
Conditions on which their strength and weakness, inert- 
ness and vivacity, depend,— the relations established be- 
tween them and the external world, which is the grand 
theatre of their action, — and, finally, the relation be- 
tween them and the superior faculties, which are destined 
to direct them, should be known; and yet, scarcely any 
thing is known in a philosophical and practical sense by 
the people at large, on these points. If I am correct in 
saying that these faculties have, by their constitution, re- 
ference chiefly to this world, then useful knowledge for 
their guidance will be afforded by the philosophy of thii 
world; and the wisdom which is to reduce them to order 
will receive important aid from studying the constitutio: 
which it has pleased the Creator to bestow on them, am 
the relations which he has seen proper to institute between 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 19 

them and the other departments of his works. His wis- 
dom and goodness will be found to pervade them. He 
has bestowed on us intellect to discover, and sentiments 
to obey, his will in whatever record its existence is in- 
scribed, and yet little of this knowledge is taught to the 
people by divines. 

Knowledge of the constitution, relations, and capabili- 
ties of this world, is indispensable also to the proper ex- 
ercise and direction of the superior powers of our minds 
In all ages practical men have been engaged for three- 
fourths of their time in pursuits calculated to gratify the 
faculties which have reference to this world alone, but, 
unfortunately, the remaining fourth of their time has not 
been devoted to pursuits bearing reference to their higher 
faculties. Through want of intellectual education, they 
have been incapable of deriving pleasure from observing 
nature, and they have not been furnished with ideas to 
enable them to think. Owing to the barbarism which 
pervaded society in general, there has been no moral at- 
mosphere in which their superior sentiments could play. 
Ambition, that powerful stimulant in social life, has not 
been directed to moral objects, but generally the reverse. 
The hours, therefore, which ought to have been dedi- 
cated to the improvement of the higher portion of their 
faculties, were either devoted to the pursuit of gain, 
sensual pleasure, or ambition, or spent in mere trifling 
amusements and relaxation. There was no practical 
onward purpose of moral and intellectual advancement 
abroad in the secular occupations of society ; and the di- 
vines who formed public opinion, so far from discovering 
that this disorder was not inherent in the constitution of 
nature, and that Christianity, in teaching the doctrine of 
the supremacy of the moral faculties, necessarily implied 
the practicability of a state of society founded on that 
principle, fell into the opposite error, and represented the 
world as deranged in all its parts; as incapable, by the 
development of its own elements, of rectification; and 



all 
ad 



20 VIEW OP THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, 

thereby added strength and permanence to the evils orig- 
inating in ignorance and unguided passion. 

I am far from casting blame on the excellent individ- 
uals who fell into these mistakes; they were inevitable at 
the time in which they lived, and with the lights which 
they possessed; but I point them out as imperfections 
which ought to be removed. 

The late Earl of Bridgewater died in February 1829, 
and left the sum of <£ 8000, which by his will he directed 
the President of the Royal Society of London to apply in 
paying any person or persons to be selected by him, ce to 
write, print, and publish one thousand copies of a work 
1 On the Power, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, as man- 
ifested in the Creation ;' illustrating such work by al] 
reasonable arguments, as, for instance, the variety and 
formation of God's creatures in the animal, vegetable, 
and mineral kingdoms; the effect of digestion, and there- 
by of conversion; the construction of the hand of man, 
and an infinite variety of other arguments; as also bj 
discoveries, ancient and modern, in arts, sciences, and the 
whole extent of literature." The President of the Roya 
Society called in the aid of the Archbishop of Canterbury 
rmd of the Bishop of London, and with their advice 
nominated eight gentlemen to write eight treatises on 
different branches of this great subject. 

The aim of the Earl of Bridgewater appears to have been 
to ascertain what the character of external nature and the 
capacities of the human mind really are, and what is the 
adaptation of the latter to the external world; questions 
of vast importance in themselves, and which can be solved 
only by direct, bold, and unbiassed appeals to Nature her- 
self. 

The first inquiry that ought naturally to have presented 
itself in the execution of this object was, *' c What is the 
constitution of the human mind;" because, before we can 
successfully trace the adaptation of two objects to each 
other, we must be acquainted with each of the objects 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 21 

themselves. But the authors of the Bridgewater Treati- 
ses have neglected this branch of inquiry. They dis- 
dained to acknowledge Phrenology as the philosophy of 
mind, and although perfectly aware that there was no 
other system that could be applied, with any reasonable 
success, to the investigation in hand, they have never 
even attempted to assign to human nature any definite or 
intelligible constitution. In consequence, "they appear to 
me to have thrown extremely little new light on the 
moral government of the world. 

In the following work, the first edition of which was 
published in 1828, before the Earl of Bridgewater's death, 
II have endeavored to avoid this inconsistency. Having 
been convinced, after minute and long continued observa- 
tion, that Phrenology is the true philosophy .of mind, I have 
assumed it as the basis of my reasoning. In this inquiry 
it is indispensably necessary to found on some system of 
mental philosophy in order to obtain one of the elements 
of the comparison; but the reader, if he chooses, may re- 
gard the phrenological views as hypothetical in the mean 
time, and judge of them by the result. Or he may attempt 
to substitute in their place any better system with which 
he is acquainted, and try how far it will successfully con- 
duct him. 

In the next place, in instituting the comparison in 
question, I have brought into view, and endeavored to 
'substantiate and apply a doctrine which, so far as I have 
yet been able to discover, is the key to the true theory of 
the divine government of the world, but which has not 
hitherto been duly appreciated, — namely, the independent 
existence and operation of the natural laws of creation. 
The natural laws may be divided into three great clas- 
ses, — Physical, Organic, and Moral; and the peculiarity 
of the new doctrine is, that these operate independently 
of each other; that each requires obedience to itself; that 
each, in its own specific way, rewards obedience and 
punishes disobedience; and that human beings are happy 

c 



22 VIEW OP THE CONSTITUTION OP HUMAN NATURE, 

in proportion to the extent in which they place themselves 
kn accordance with all of these divine institutions. For 
example, the most pious and benevolent missionaries sail- 
ing to civilize and christianize the heathen, if they em- 
bark in an unsound ship, may be drowned by disobeying 
a physical law, without their destruction beyig averted by 
their morality. On the other hand, if the greatest mon- 
sters of iniquity were embarked in a stanch and strong 
ship, and managed it well, they might, and, on the general 
principles of the government of the world, they would 
escape drowning in circumstances exactly similar to those 
which would send the missionaries to the bottom. There 
appears something inscrutable in these results if only the 
moral qualities of the men be contemplated; but if the 
principle be adopted that ships float in virtue of a purely 
physical law, — that the physical and moral laws operate 
independently, each in its own sphere, — the consequences j 
appear in a totally different light. 

Again, the organic laws operate independently; and 
hence, one individual who has inherited a fine bodily 
constitution from his parents, and observes the rules of 
temperance and exercise, will enjoy robust health, al- 
though he may cheat, lie, blaspheme, and destroy his 
fellow men; while another, if he have inherited a feeble 
constitution, and disregards the rules of temperance and 
exercise, will suffer pain and sickness although he may 
be a paragon of every christian virtue. These results 
are frequently observed to occur in the world, and, on 
every such occasion, the darkness and inscrutable per- 
plexity of the ways of Providence are generally moralized 
upon; or a future life is called in as the scene in which 
these crooked paths are to be rendered straight. But 
if our views be correct, the divine wisdom and goodness 
are abundantly conspicuous in these events; for we per- 
ceive that, by this distinct operation of the organic and 
moral laws, order is preserved in creation, and the means 
of discipline and improvement are afforded to all the 
human faculties. 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS 23 

The moral and intellectual laws also operate indepen- 
dently. The man who cultivates his intellect, and prac- 
tically obeys the precepts of Christianity, will enjoy with- 
in himself a fountain of moral and intellectual happiness 
which is the appropriate reward of that obedience. By 
these means he will be rendered more capable of study- 
ing, comprehending, and obeying, the physical and or- 
ganic laws, of placing himself in harmony with the whole 
order of creation, and of attaining the highest degree of 
perfection, and reaping the highest degree of happiness 
of which human nature in this world is susceptible. In 
short, whenever we apply the principle of the independent 
operation of the natural laws, the apparent confusion of 
the moral government of the world disappears. 

These views will be better understood and appreciated 
after perusing the subsequent chapters, the object of which 
is to unfold and apply them; the aim of these introductory 
emarks being merely to prepare the reader for travelling 
over the more abstruse portions of the work with a clearer 
perception of their scope and tendency. The work itself 
has now been before the public for six years, and I have 
seen no criticism which has shaken my conviction of the 
substantial truth of the principles maintained in it. Of 
its value as a contribution to the philosophy of human 
nature, the public are the only legitimate judges. 

Some well-meaning individuals have imagined, that 
this work is hostile to religion, because it is confined to 
principles which can be discovered by observation and 
reflection, and to human conduct in this life without direct 
reference to a future state; but such ideas are entirely 
unfounded. Human nature and the external world have 
both proceeded from the Creator, and it is impossible, in 
interpreting their constitution aright, to arrive at any con- 
clusions at variejice with a correct interpretation of Scrip- 
ture. This fundamental truth must be granted, otherwise 
religion can have no substantial foundation. If two sound 
'nterpretations of the divine will, as recorded in Creation 



24 VIEW OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE, 

and in Scripture, can by possibility contradict each other, 
we can have no confidence in the moral Governor of the 
world. Assuming, then, that all, sound philosophy, and 
all true religion, must harmonize, there will be a manifest 
advantage in cultivating each by itself, till its full dimen- 
sions, limits, and applications shall be brought clearly to 
light. We may then advantageously compare them, and 
use the one as a means of elucidating or correcting our 
viows of the other. 

To the best of my knowledge, there is not one practical 
result of the natural laws expounded in the subsequent 
pages, which does not harmonize precisely with the prac- 
tical precepts of the New Testament. Indeed this work 
has been characterised by some individuals as the philos- 
ophy of Christian morality, because they regard it as ex- 
hibiting the natural foundations of the admirable precepts 
which are taught only dogmatically in the New Testament. 
It is objected, however, that, by omitting the sanction of 
future reward and punishment, this treatise leaves out the 
highest, best, and most efficacious class of motives to vir- 
tuous conduct. This objection is founded on a misappre- 
hension of the object of the book. It is my purpose to 
show, that the rewards and punishments of human actions 
are infinitely more complete, certain, and efficacious, in 
this life, than is generally believed; but by no means tc 
interfere with the sanctions to virtue afforded by the pros 
pects of future retribution. It appears to me that everj 
action which is morally wrong, in reference to a future 
life, is equally wrong and inexpedient with relation to this 
world; and that it is of essential advantage to virtue tc 
prove this to be the case. Having observed a great ten- 
dency in many religious men to overlook the importance 
of understanding the moral administration of this world, 
and to turn their attention too exclusively to the next, I 
have endeavored to present the administration of the pres- 
ent world in a clear light, calculated to arrest attention, 
and to draw towards it that degree of consideration to which 



AND ITS RELATIONS TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 25 

it is justly entitled. This proceeding will be recognised 
as the more necessary, if one principle largely insisted on 
in the present work shall be admitted to be sound, viz. that 
religion operates on the human mind, in subordination 
and not in contradiction, to its natural constitution. If 
this view be well founded, it will be indispensable that re- 
ligious teachers shall comply with all the natural conditions 
required by the human constitution, as preliminaries to 
moral and religious conduct, before their purely religious 
teaching can produce its full effects. If, for example, an 
ill constituted brain be unfavorable to the appreciation 
and practice of religious truth, it is not an unimportant in- 
quiry, whether any, and what, influence can be exercised 
bv human means in improving the size and proportions of 
the mental organs? If certain physical circumstances and 
occupations have a natural tendency to blunt all the higher 
feelings and faculties of the mind, in consequence of their 
influence on the nervous system in general, and the brain 
in particular, and if religious emotions cannot be experi- 
enced with full effect by individuals so situate, the ascer- 
tainment, with a view to removal, of the nature, causes, 
and effects, of these impediments to holiness, is not a mat- 
ter of indifference. This view has not been systematically 
adopted and pursued by the religious instructers of man- 
kind in any age, or any country, and for this sole reason, 
in my,humble opinion, that the state of moral and physi- 
cal science did not enable them either to appreciate its im- 
portance or carry it into effect. By presenting Nature in 
all her simplicity and strength, a new impulse and direc- 
tion may perhaps be given to their understandings; and 
they may be induced to consider whether their universally 
confessed failure to render men as virtuous and happy as 
they desired, may not to some extent have arisen from their 
non-fulfilment of the natural conditions instituted by tha 
Creator as preliminaries to success. 

3 



CHAPTER I. 

ON NATURAL LAWS. 

In natural science, three subjects of inquiry may be 
distinguished. 1st, What exists? 2dly, What is the pur- 
pose or design of what exists; and, 3dly, Why was what 
exists designed for such uses as it evidently subserves? 

It is matter of fact, for instance, that arctic regions 
and torrid zones exist, — that a certain kind of moss is 
most abundant in Lapland in winter, — that the rein-deer 
feeds on it, and enjoys health and vigor in situations 
where most other animals would die ; that camels exist in 
Africa, that they have broad hoofs, and stomachs fitted 
to retain water for a length of time, and that they flourish 
amid arid tracts of sand, where the rein-deer would not 
live for a day. All this falls under the inquiry, What 
exists ? 

In contemplating these facts, the understanding is natu- 
rally led to infer that one object of the Lapland moss is 
to feed the rein-deer, and that one purpose of the deer is 
to assist man: and that broad feet have been given to the 
camel to allow it to walk on sand, and a retentive" stomach 
to fit it for arid places in which water is found only at 
wide intervals. These are inquiries into the uses or pur- 
poses of what exists; and they constitute a legitimate 
exercise of the human 'ntellect. 

But, 3dly, ve mav ask, Why were the physical ele- 
ment? of nature created sucn as they are? Why were 
summer, autumn, spring, and winter introduced? Why 
were animals formed of organized matter ? Why were 
torrid zones and trackless wastes of snow called into exis- 



28 ON NATURAL LAWS 

tence? These are inquiries why what exists was maue 
such as it is, or into the will of the Deity in creation. 

Now, man's perceptive faculties are adequate to the 
first inquiry, and his reflective faculties to the second, 
but it may well be doubted whether he has powers suited 
to the third. My investigations are confined to the first 
and second, and I do not discuss the third. 

In the Introduction, p. 8, I have endeavored to show 
that the Creator has bestowed definite constitutions on 
physical nature and on man and animals, and that they 
are regulated by fixed laws. A law, in the common ac- 
ceptation, denotes a rule of action; it implies a subject 
which acts, and that the actions or phenomena which it 
exhibits take place in an established and regular manner; 
and this is the sense in which I shall use it, when treat- 
ing of physical substances and beings. Water, for in- 
stance, when at the level of the sea, and combined with 
that portion of heat indicated by 32° of Fahrenheit's ther- 
mometer, freezes or becomes solid; when combined with 
the portion denoted by 212° of that instrument, it rises 
into vapor or steam. Here water and heat are the sub- 
stances, — the freezing and rising in vapor are the appear- 
ances or phenomena presented by them; and when we 
say that these take place according to a Law of Nature, 
we mean only that these modes of action appear, to our 
intellects, to be established in the very constitution of the 
water and heat, and in their natural relationship to each 
other; an^that the processes of freezing and rising in 
vapor are their constant appearances, when combined in 
these proportions, other conditions being the same. 

The ideas chiefly to be kept in view are, 1st, That all 
substances and beings have received a definite natural 
constitution; 2dly, That every mode of action, which is 
said to take place according to a natural law, is inherent 
in the constitution of the substance, or being; and, 3dly, 
That the mode of action described is universal and inva- 
riable, wherever and whenever the substances, or beings 



ON NATURAL LAWS. 29 

are found in the same condition. For example, water, at 
he level of the sea, freezes and boils at the same tempe- 
rature, in China, in France, in Peru, and in England; 
and there is no exception to the regularity with which it 
exhibits these appearances, when all its other conditions 
are* the same: For this last qualification must constantly 
be attended to in all departments of science. If water be 
carried to the top of a mountain 20,000 feet high, it will 
boil at a lower temperature than 212°; but this depends 
on its relationship to the air, and takes place also accord- 
ing to fixed and invariable principles. The air exerts a 
great pressure on water. At the level of the sea the 
pressure is every where nearly the same, and in that sit- 
uation the freezing and boiling points Correspond all over 
the world ; but on the top of a high mountain the pressure 
is much less, and the vapor not being held down by so 
great a power of resistance, rises at a lower temperature 
than 212°. But this change of appearances dues not 
indicate a change in the constitution of the water and the 
heat, but only a variation in the circumstances in which 
they are placed; and hence it is not correct to say, that 
water boiling on the tops of high mountains, at a lower 
temperature than 212°, is an exception to the general law 
of nature: there never are exceptions to the laws of na- 
ture; for the Creator is too wise and too powerful to make 
imperfect or inconsistent arrangements. The error is in 
the human mind inferring the law to be, that water boils 
at 212° in all altitudes; when the real law is only that it 
boils at that temperature, at the level of the' sea, in all 
countries; and that it boils at a lower temperature the 
higher it is carried, because there the" pressure of the 
atmosphere is less. 

Intelligent beings are capable of observing nature and 
of modifying their actions. By means of their faculties, 
the laws impressed by the Creator on physical substances 
become known to them; and, when perceived, constitute 
laws ta them, by which to regulate their conduct. For 

3* 



30 ON NATURAL LAWS. 

example, it is a physical law, that boiling water destroys 
the muscular and nervous systems of man. This is the 
result purely of the constitution of the body, and the rela- 
tion between it and heat ; and man cannot alter or suspend 
that law. But whenever the human intellect perceives 
the relation, and the consequences of violating it, the 
mind is prbmpted to avoid infringement, in order to shun 
the torture attached by the Creator to the decomposition 
of the human body by heat. 

Similar views have long been taught by philosophers 
and divines. Bishop Butler, in particular, says : — " An 
Author of Nature being supposed, it is not so much a de- 
duction of reason as a matter of experience, that we are 
thus under his government, in the same sense as we are 
under the government of civil magistrates. Because the 
annexing pleasure to some actions, and pain "to others, in 
our power to do or forbear, and giving notice of this ap- 
pointment beforehand to those whom it concerns, is the 
proper formal notion of government. Whether the pleasure 
or pain which thus follows upon our behavior, be owing 
to the Author of Nature's acting upon us every moment 
when we feel it, or to his having at once contrived and 
executed his own part in the plan of the world, makes no 
alteration as to the matter before us. For, if civil magis- 
trates could make the sanctions of their laws take place, 
without interposing at all, after they had passed them, 
without a trial, and the formalities of an execution ; if they 
were able to make their laws execute themselves, or every 
offender to execute them upon himself, we should be just 
in the same sense under their government then as we are 
now ; but in a much higher degree and more perfect man- 
ner. Vain is the ridicule with which one sees some per- 
sons will divert themselves; upon finding lesser pains con- 
sidered as instances of divine punishment. There is no 
possibility of answering or evading the general thing here 
intended, without denying all final causes. For, final causes 
being admitted, the pleasures and pains now mentioned 






ON NATURAL LAWS. 31 



must be admitted too, as instances of them. And if they 
are, if God annexes delight "to some actions, with an ap- 
parent design to induce us to act so and so, then he not 
only dispenses happiness and misery, but also rewards and 

! punishes actions. If, for example, the pain which we feel 
upon doing what tends to the destruction of our bodies, 
suppose upon too near approaches to fire, or upon wound- 
ing ourselves, be appointed by the Author of Nature to 
prevent our doing what thus tends to our destruction; this 
•is altogether as much an instance of his punishing our ac- 
tions, and consequently of our being under his government, 
as declaring, by a voice from Heaven, that, if we acted 
so, he would inflict such pain upon us, and inflicting it 
whether it be greater or less.* " 

If, then, the reader keep in view that God is the crea- 
tor; that Nature, in the general sense, means the world 

1 which he has made; and, in a more limited sense, the par- 
ticular constitution which he has bestowed on any special 
object, of which we may be treating; and that a Law of 
Nature means the established mode in which the actions 
and phenomena of any creature or object exhibit them- 
selves, and the obligation thereby imposed on intelligent 
beings to attend to it, he will be in no danger of misunder- 
standing my meaning. 

Every natural object has received a definite constitution, 
in virtue of which it acts in a particular way. There must, 
therefore, be as many natural laws, as there are distinct 
modes of action of substances and beings, viewed by them- 
selves. But substances and beings stand in certain rela- 
tions to each other, and modify each other's action, in an 
established and definite manner, according to that relation- 
ship; altitude, for instance, modifies the effect of heat 
upon water. There must, therefore, be also as many laws 
of nature, as there are relations between different substan- 
ces and beings. 

* Butler's Works, vol. i. p. 44. Similar observations by other au 
<Jhors will be found in the Appendix, No. I. 



32 ON NATURAL LAWS. 

It is impossible, in the present state of knowledge, to 
elucidate all these laws: countless years may elapse be- 
fore they shall be discovered; but we may investigate 
some of the most familiar and striking of them. Those 
that most readily present themselves bear reference tc 
the great classes into which the objects around us may 
be divided, namely, Physical, Organic, and Intelligent 
I shall therefore confine myself to the physical laws, the 
organic laws, and the laws which characterize intelligent 
beings. 

1st. The PhysicalJLaws embrace all the phenomena 
of mere matter; a heavy body, for instance, when unsup- 
ported, falls to the ground with a certain accelerating 
force, in proportion to the distance which it falls, and its 
own density; and this motion is said to take place ac- 
cording to the law of gravitation. An acid applied to a 
vegetable blue color, converts it into red, and this is said 
co take place according to a chemical law. 

2dly. Organized substances and beings stand higher 
m the scale of creation, and have properties peculiar to 
themselves. They act, and are acted upon, in conform- 
ity with their constitution, and are therefore said to be 
subject to a peculiar set of laws, termed the Organic. 
The distinguishing characteristic of this class of objects 
is, that the individuals of them derive their existence 
from other organized beings, are nourished by food, 
and go through a regular process of growth and decay 
Vegetables and Animals are the two great subdivisions 
of it. The organic laws are different from the merely 
physical. A stone, for example, does not spring from a 
parent stone; it does not take food; it does not increase 
in vigor for a time, and then decay and suffer dissolu 
tion; all which processes characterize vegetables and 
animals. 

The organic laws are superior to the merely physical. 
A living man, or animal, may be placed in an oven, along 
with the carcass of a dead animal, and remain exposed 



ON NATURAL LAWS. 35 

to a heat which will completely bake the dead flesh, anc 
yet come out alive, and not seriously injured. The dead 
flesh is mere physical matter, and its decomposition by 
( the heat instantly commences; but the living animal is 
able, by its organic qualities, to counteract and resist, to a 
certain extent, that influence. The Organic Laws, there- 
fore, mean the established modes according to which all 
phenomena connected with the production, health, growth, 
decay and death of vegetables and animals, take place. 
In the case of each animal or vegetable of the same kind, 
their modes of action are always the same, in the same 
circumstances. Animals are the chief objects of my 
present observations. 

3dly. Intelligent beings stand still higher in the scale 
than merely organized matter, and embrace all animals 
that have distinct consciousness, from the lowest of the 

(inferior creatures up to man. The great divisions of 
this class are into Intelligent and Animal — and into In- 
telligent and Moral creatures. The dog, horse, and ele- 

I phant, for instance, belong to the first class, because they 
possess some degree of intelligence, and certain animal 
propensities, but no moral feelings; man belongs to the 
second, because he possesses all the three. These various 
faculties have received a definite constitution, and staad 
in determinate relationship to external objects; for exam- 

i pie, a healthy palate cannot feel wormwood sweet, nor 
sugar bitter: a healthy eye cannot see a rod partly plung- 
ed in water straight, because the water so modifies the 
rays of light, as to give to the stick the appearance of 
being crooked: a healthy sentiment of Benevolence can- 
not feel gratified with murder, nor a healthy Conscien- 
tiousness with fraud. As, therefore, the mental faculties 
have received a precise constitution, have been placed in 
fixed and definite relations to external objects, and act 
regularly, we speak of their acting according to rules or 
.aws, and call these the Moral and Intellectual Laws. 
Several important principles strike us very early in 



34 ON NATURAL LAWS. 

attending to the natural laws, viz. 1st. Their independence 
of each other; 2dly. Obedience to each of them is attend- 
ed with its own reward, and disobedience v/ith its own 
punishment; 3dly. They are universal, unbending, and 
invariable in their operation ; 4thly. They are in harmony 
with the constitution of man. 

1 . The independence of the natural laws may be il- 
lustrated thus: — A ship floats because a part of it being 
immersed, displaces a weight of water equal to its whole 
weight, leaving the remaining portion above the fluid. A 
ship, therefore, will float on the surface of the water as 
long as these physical conditions are observed; no matter 
ilthough the men in it should infringe other natural laws; 
as, for example, although they should rob, murder, bias 
pheme, and commit every species of debauchery; and it 
will sink whenever the physical conditions are subverted, 
nowever strictly the crew and passengers may obey the 
moral laws here adverted to. In like manner, a man who 
swallows poison, which destroys the stomach or intestines, 
will die, just because an organic law has been infringed, 
and because it acts independently of others, although he 
should have taken the drug by mistake, or have been the 
most pious and charitable individual on earth. Or, thirdly, 
a<man may cheat, lie, steal, tyrannise, and in short break 
a great variety of the moral laws, and nevertheless be fat 
and rubicund, if he sedulously observed the organic laws 
of temperance and exercise; while, on the other hand, an 
individual who neglects these, may pine in disease, and 
be racked with torturing pains, although at the very mo- 
ment, he may be devoting his mind to the highest duties 
of humanity. 

2. Obedience to each law is attended with its own 
reward, and disobedience with its own punishment 
Thus the mariners who preserve their ship in accordance 
with the physical Jaws, reap the reward of sailing in safe- 

y; and those who permit its departure from them, are 
punished by the ship sinking. Those who obey the moral 



ON NATURAL LAWS 35 



i law, enjoy tne intense internal delights that spring from 
• , active moral faculties; they render themselves, moreover, 

i objects of affection and esteem to moral and intelligent 

| beings, who, in consequence, confer on them many other 
gratifications. Those who disobey that law, are tor- 
mented with insatiable desires, which, from the nature 
of things, cannot be gratified; they are punished by the 
perpetual craving of whatever portion of moral senti- 
ment they possess, for higher enjoyments, which are 
never attained; and they are objects of dislike and ma- 
levolence to other beings of similar dispositions with them- 

, selves, who inflict on them the evils dictated by their owp 
provoked propensities. Those who obey the organic laws, 

s ^ap the reward of health and vigor of body, and buoy 
ancy of mind; while those who break them are punish 
ed by sickness, feebleness, and languor. 

3. The natural laws are universal, invariable, and un- 
bending. When the physical laws are infringed in China 
or Kamschatka, there is no instance of a ship floating 
there more than in England; and, when they are observ- 
ed, there is no instance of a vessel sinking in any one of 
these countries more than in another. There is no exam- 
ple of men, in any country, enjoying the mild and gene- 
rous internal joys, and the outward esteem and love that 
attend obedience to the moral law, while they give them- 
selves up to the dominion of brutal propensities. There 
is no example, in any latitude or longitude, or in any age, 
of men who entered life with a constitution in harmony 
with the organic laws, and who continued to obey these 
laws throughout, being, in consequence of this obedience, 
visited with pain and disease; and there are no instances 
of men who were born with constitutions at variance with 
the organic laws, and who lived in habitual disobedience 
to them, enjoying that sound health and vigor of body 
that are the rewards of obedience. 

4. The natural laws are in harmony with the whole con- 
stitution of man, t^e moral and intellectual powers holding 



36 ON NATURAL LAWS. 

the supremacy. If ships in general had sunk when they 
were stanch, strong, and skilfully managed, this would 
have outraged the perceptions of reason; but as they 
float, the physical law is, in this instance, in harmony with 
the moral arid intellectual law. If men who rioted in 
drunkenness and debauchery had thereby established 
health and increased their happiness, this, again, would 
have been at variance with our intellectual and moral 
perceptions; but the opposite result is in harmony with 
(hem. 

It will be subsequently shown, that our moral senti- 
ments desire universal happiness If the physical and 
organic laws are constituted in harmony with them, it 
ought to follow that the natural laws, when obeyed, wi#^ 
conduce to the happiness of the moral and intelligent 
oeings, who are called on to observe them; and that the 
evil consequences, or punishments, resulting from infringe- 
ment of them will be calculated to enforce stricter obedi- 
ence, for the advantage of these creatures themselves. 
According to this view, when a ship sinks, in consequence 
of a plank starting, the punishment is intended to impress 
upon the spectators the absolute necessity of having every 
plank secure and strong before going to sea, this be- 
ing a condition indispensable to their safety. When 
sickness and pain follow a debauch, the object of the suf- 
fering is to urge a more scrupulous obedience to the or- 
ganic laws, that the individual may escape death, which is 
he inevitable consequence of too great and continued 
disobedience to these laws, — and enjoy health, which is 
the reward of the opposite conduct. When discontent, 
irritation, hatred, and other mental annoyances, arise out 
of infringement of the moral law, this punishment is cal- 
culated to induce the offender to return to obedience, that 
he may enjoy the rewards attached to it. 

When the transgression of any natural law is exces- 
sive, and so great that return to obedience is impossible, 
on6 purpose of death, which then ensues, may be to de- 



ON NATURAL LAWS 37 

liver the individual from a continuation of the punish- 
ment which could then do him no good. Thus, when, from 
infringement of a physical law, a ship sinks at sea, and 
leaves men immersed in water, without the possibility of 
reaching land, their continued existence in that state 
would be one of cruel and protracted suffering; and it 
is advantageous to them to have their mortal life extin- 
guished at once by drowning, thereby withdrawing them 
from farther agony. In like manner, if a man in the vigor 
of life, so far infringe any organic law as to destroy the 
function of a vital organ, the heart, for instance, or the 
lungs, or the brain, it is better for him to have his life 
i cut short,^.nd his pain put an end to, than to have it pro- 
tracted under all the tortures of an organic existence, 
without lungs, without a heart, or without a brain, if such a 
state were possible, which, for this wise reason, it is not. 
I do not intend to predicate any thing concerning the per- 
fectibility of man by obedience to the laws of nature. The 
system of sublunary creation, so far as we perceive it, does 
not appear to be one of optimism; yet benevolent design, 
in its constitution, is undeniable. Paley says, " Nothing 
remains but the first supposition, that God, when he crea- 
ted the human species, wished them happiness, and made 
for them the provisions which he has made, with that view 
and for that purpose. The same argument may be pro- 
posed in different terms: Contrivance proves design; and 
the predominant tendency of the contrivance indicates the 
disposition of the designer. The world abounds with con- 
trivances; and all the contrivances which we are acquaint- 
ed with, are directed to beneficial purposes." Paley's 
Mor. Phil. Edinb. 1816, p. 51. Many of the contrivances 
of the Creator, for effecting beneficial purposes, have been 
discovered by philosophers; but, so far as I am aware, no 
one has adverted to the foregoing principles according to 
which these contrivances operate, so that nothing like a 
systematic view of the moral government of the world has 
hitherto been presented to mankind 

4 t 



88 ON NATURAL LAWS. 

I do not intend to teach that the natural laws, discerni- 
ble by unassisted reason, are sufficient for the salvation 
of man without revelation. Human interests regard this 
world and the next. To enjoy this world, I humbly 
maintain, that man must discover and obey the natural 
laws. Revelation does not communicate complete in- 
formation concerning the best mode of pursuing even 
our legitimate temporal interests; — and numerous practi- 
cable duties resulting from our constitution are discover- 
able,, which are not treated of in detail in the inspired 
volume; the mode of preserving health, for example; of 
pursuing with success a temporal calling; of discovering 
;he qualities of men with whom we mean to associate our 
interests; and many others. This is the case probably 
because faculties have been given to man to discover 
arts, sciences, and the natural laws, and to adapt his 
conduct to them; and that the physical, moral and intel- 
lectual nature of man, is itself left open *to investigation 
by these faculties. My object, I repeat, is to investigate 
the natural constitution of the human body and mind 
their relations to external objects and beings in this 
world, and the courses of action that, in consequence, 
appear to be beneficial or hurtful in this life. 

Man's spiritual interests belong to the sphere of reve- 
lation; and I distinctly declare, that I do not teach that 
obedience to the natural laws is sufficient for salvation 
in a future state. Revelation prescribes certain requi- 
sites for salvation, which may be divided into two classes; 
first, faith or belief; and, secondly, the performance of 
certain practical duties not as meritorious of salvation, 
but as the native result of that faith, and the necessary 
evidence of its sincerity. The natural laws form no 
guide as to faith; but so far as I can perceive, their 
dictates and those of revelation coincide in all matters 
relating to practical duties in temporal affairs. 

It may be asked, whether mere knowledge of the natu 
ral laws is sufficient to insure observance of them? Cer 



ON NATURAL LAWS 39 

tainly iwt Mere knowledge of music does not enable 
one to play m an instrument, nor of anatomy to perform 
skilfuljy a statical operation. Practical training, and the 
aid of eveiv motive that can interest the feelings, are 
necessary to *ead individuals to obey the natural laws. 
Religion, in particular, may furnish motives highly condu- 
cive to this obedience. But it must never be forgotten, 
that although mere knowledge is not all-sufficient, it is a 
primary and indispensable requisite to regular obser- 
vance;- and that it is as impossible effectually and syste- 
matically to obey the natural laws without knowing them, 
as it is to perform any other complicated and important 
duty in ignorance of its principles and practical details. 
Some persons are of opinion, that Christianity alone suffi- 
ces, not only for man's salvation, which I do not dispute, 
but for his guidance in all practical virtues, without know- 
ledge of, or obedience to, the laws of nature; but from 
j this notion I respectfully dissent. It appears to me, that 
i one reason why vice and misery, in this world, do not di- 
minish in proportion to preaching, is, because the natural 
I laws are too much overlooked, and very rarely consider- 
ed as having any relation to practical conduct. 

Before religion can yield its full practical fruits in this 
, world, it must be wedded to a philosophy founded on 
| these laws; it must borrow light and strength from them, 
f and in return communicate its powerful sanction in en- 
\ forcing obedience to their dictates. 

Connected with this subject, it is proper to state, that 
I do not maintain that the world is arranged on the prin- 
ciple of Benevolence exclusively; my idea is, that it is 
v constituted in harmony with the whole faculties of man; 
the moral sentiments and intellect holding the supremacy. 
What is meant by creation being constituted in harmony 
• with the whole faculties of man, is this. Suppose that we 
should see two men holding a third in a chair, and a fourth 
drawing a tooth from his head: — While we contemplated 
(his bare act, and knew nothing of the intention with which 



40 ON NATURAL LAWS 

it was done, and of the consequences that would follow, 
we would set it down as purely cruel; and say, that, ^1 
though it might be in harmony with the propensity whic 
prompts men to inflict pain and destroy, it could not b 
so with Benevolence. But, when we were told that th 
individual in the chair was a patient, and the operator a 
dentist; and that the object <,f x all the parties was to de 
liver the first from violent toiture, we would then perceiv 
that an operation attended with pain had been used as 
means to accomplish a benevolent purpose; or, in othe 
words, that the operator had acted under the supremacy 
of moral sentiment and intellect, and we would approve 
of his conduct. If the world had been created on the 
principle of Benevolence exclusively, the toothach could 
not have existed; but, as pain does exist, a mental facul- 
ty, called by the phrenologists Destructiveness, has been 
given to place man in harmony with it, when used for a 
benevolent end. 

To apply this illustration to the works of providence, I 
humbly suggest it as probable, that, if we knew thoroughly 
the design and whole consequences of such institutions 
of the Creator, as are attended with pain, including death 
itself, we should find that Destructiveness was used as a 
means, under the guidance of Benevolence and Justice, 
to arrive at an end in harmony with the moral sentiments 
and intellect; in short, that no institution of the Creator 
has pure evil, or destructiveness alone, for its object. 

The opposite of this doctrine, viz. that there are in- 
stitutions of the Creator which have suffering for their 
exclusive object, is clearly untenable; for this would be 
ascribing malevolence to the Deity. As, however, the 
existence of pain is undeniable, it is equally impossible 
to believe that the world is arranged on the principle of 
Benevolence exclusively. The view now presented makes 
no attempt to explain why pain exists, because I consider 
this inquiry to surpass the limits of the human under- 
standing. It offers an explanation, however, of the uses 



" 



ON NATURAL LAWS. 41 

which pain serves, namely, to enforce obedience to the 
natural laws; and it shows that the human mind is con- 
stituted in harmony with this order of creation. Phre- 
nology alone, of all systems of mental philosophy, admits 
faculties calculated to place us in harmony with difficulty, 
pain, and death, and thus enhances our perceptions of 
divine wisdom and goodness. 

4 



42 



CHAPTER II. 

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN, AND ITS RELATIONS 
TO EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 

Let us next consider the Constitution -of Man, and the 
natural laws to which he is subjected, and endeavor to 
discover how far the external world is arranged with wis- 
dom and benevolence, in regard to him. Bishop Butler, 
in the Preface to his Sermons, says, ' It is from consider-, 
ing the relations which the several appeti-tes and passions 
in the inward frame have to each other, and, above all, 
the supremacy of reflection or conscience, that we get 
the idea of the system or constitution of human nature. 
And from the idea itself, it will as fully appear, that this 
our nature, i. e. constitution, is adapted to virtue, as from 
the idea of a watch it appears that its nature, i. e. consti- 
tution or system, is adapted to measure time.' 

' Mankind has various instincts and principles of action, 
as brute creatures have; some leading most directly and 
immediately to the good of the community, and some 
most directly to private good.' 

' Man has several, which brutes have not; particularly 
reflection or conscience, an approbation of some princi- 
ples or actions, and disapprobation of others.' 

1 Brutes obey their instincts or principles of action, 
according to certain rules; suppose, the constitution of 
their body, and the objects around them.' 

1 The generality of mankind* also obey their instincts 
and principles, all of them, those propensities we call 
good, as well as the bad, according to the same rules, 
namely, the constitution of their body, and the external 
circumstances which they are in.' 



CONSTITUTION OF MAN. 43 

■ Brutes, in acting according to the rules before men- 
tioned, their bodily constitution and circumstances, act 
suitably to their whole nature. 

* Mankind also, in acting thus, would act suitably to 
their whole nature, if no more were to be said of man's 
nature than what has been now said; if that, as it is a 
true, were also a complete, adequate account of our na- 
ture 

1 But that is not a complete account of man's nature. 
Somewhat further must be brought in to give us an ade- 
quate notion of it; namely, that one of those principles of 
action, conscience, or refection, compared with the rest, as 
they all stand together in the nature of man, plainly bears 
upon it marks of authority over all the rest, and claims the 
absolute direction of them all, to allow or forbid their gra- 
tification; — a disapprobation on reflection being in itselt 
a principle manifestly superior to a mere propension. 
And the conclusion is, that to allow no more to this supe- 
rior principle or part of our nature, than to other parts; 
to let it govern and guide only occasionally, in common 
with the rest, as its turn happens to come, from the tem- 
per and circumstances one happens to be in; this is not 
to act conformably to the constitution of man: neither can 
any human creature be said to act conformably to his 
constitution of nature, unless he allows to that superior 
principle the absolute authority which is due to it.' — But- 
ler's Works, vol. ii. Preface. The following Essay is 
founded on the principles here suggested. 

SECTION I. 

MAN CONSIDERED AS A PHYSICAL BEING. 

The human body consists of bones, muscles, nerves,* 
blood-vessels, besides organs of nutrition, of respiration, 
and of thought. These parts are all composed of physical 
elements, and, to a certain extent, are subjected to tho 



44 MAN CONSIDERED AS A PHYSICAL BEING. 

physical laws of creation. By 'the law of gravitation, the 
body falls to the ground when unsupported, and is liable 
to be injured, like any frangible substance; by a chemi- 
cal law, excessive cold freezes, and excessive heat dis- 
sipates, its fluids; and life, in either case, is extinguished. 

To discover the real effect of the physical laws of 
nature on human happiness, we would require to under- 
stand, 1st. The physical laws themselves, as revealed by 
mathematics, natural philosophy, natural history, chem- 
istry, and their subordinate branches; 2dly. The an- 
atomical and physiological constitution of the human 
body; 3dly. The adaptation of the former to the latter. 
These expositions are necessary to ascertain the extent 
to which it is possible for man to place himself in accord- 
ance with the physical laws, so as to reap advantage from 
them, and also to determine how far the sufferings which 
he endures fall to be ascribed to the inevitable operation 
of these laws, or how far to his ignorance and infringe- 
ment of them. To treat of these views in detail, would 
require separate volumes, and I therefore confine myself 
to a single instance as an illustratiqn of the mode in 
which the investigation might be c onducted*. 

By the law of gravitation, heavy bodies always tend 
towards the centre of the earth. • Some of the advanta- 
ges of this law are, that objects, when properly support- 
ed, remain at rest; that walls, when built sufficiently 
thick and perpendicular, stand firm and erect; that water 
descends from high places, and precipitates itself down 
the channels of rivers, turns mill-wheels in its course, 
and sets in motion the most stupendous and useful ma- 
chinery; and that ships move steadily through the water 
with part of their hulls immersed, and part rising moder- 

I * The "reader will find many valuable illustrations of ^hese laws in - 
'The principles of Physiology applied to the Preservation of Health 
and to the Improvement of Physical and Mental Education/ by 
Andrew Combe, M. D. third edition. Black, Edinburgh ; and Long 
man & Co., London. 



MAN CONSIDERED AS A PHYSICAL BEING. % 45 

ately above it, their masts and sails towering in the air 
to catch the inconstant breeze. 

To place man in harmony with this law, the Creator 
has bestowed on him bones, muscles, and nerves, con- 
structed on the most perfect principles, which enable him 
to preserve his equilibrium, and to adapt his movements 
to its influence; also intellectual faculties, calculated to 
perceive the existence of the law, its modes of operation, 
the relation between it and himself, the beneficial conse- 
quences of observing this relation, and the painful results 
of infringing it. 

When a .person falls over a precipice, and is maimed 
or killed; when a ship springs a leak and sinks; or when 
a reservoir of water breaks down its banks and ravages a 
valley, the evils, no doubt, proceed from the operation 
of this law; but we ought to inquire whether they could 
or could not have been prevented, by a due exercise of 
the physical and mental powers bestowed by the Creator 
on man, to enable him to avoid the injurious effects of 
gravitation ? 

By pursuing this course, we shall arrive at sound con- 
clusions concerning the adaptation of the human mind 
and body to the physical laws of creation. The subject, 
as I have said, is too extensive to be here prosecuted in 
detail, and I am incompetent, besides, to do it justice; 
but enough has been said to elucidate the principle con- 
tended for. And the more minutely any one inquires, 
the more firm will be his conviction, that, in these rela- 
tions, admirable provision has been made by the Creator 
for human happiness, and that the evils which arise from 
neglect of them, are attributable, to a great extent, to 
man's not adequately applying his powers to the promo* 
tion of his own enjoyment 



46 MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANIZED BEING. 

SECTION II. , 

MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANIZED BEING. 

Man is an organized being, and subject to the organ- 
ic laws. An organized being is one which derives its 
existence from a previously existing organized being, 
which subsists on food, which grows, attains maturity, 
decays, and dies. The first law, then, that must be 
obeyed, to render an organized being perfect in its kind, 
is, that the germ, from which it springs, shall be com- 
plete in all its parts, and sound in its whole constitution. 
If we sow an acorn, in which, some vital part has been 
destroyed altogether, the seedling plant, and the full 
grown oak, if it ever attain to maturity, will be deficient 
in the lineaments which were wanting in the embryo 
root; if we sow an acorn entire in its parts, but only half 
ripened, or damaged by damp or other causes in its 
whole texture, the seedling oak will be feeble, and will 
probably die early. A similar law holds in regard ta 
man. A second organic law is, that the organized being, 
the moment it is ushered into life, and so long as it con- 
tinues to live, must be supplied with food, light, air, and 
every other physical aliment requisite for its support, in 
due quantity, and of the kind best suited to its particular 
constitution. Obedience to this law is rewarded with a 
vigorous and healthy development of its powers; and in 
animals, with a pleasing consciousness of existence and 
aptitude for the performance of their natural functions, 
disobedience is punished with feebleness, stinted growth, 
general imperfection, or death. A single fact will illus-* 
..rate this observation. At the meeting of the British 
Association, held in Edinburgh in 1834, an Abstract of a 
Registry, kept in the Lying-in Hospital of Great Britain 
Street, Dublin, from the year 1758 to the end of 1833, 
was read by Dr. Joseph Clarke, from which it appeared, 
hat, in 1781, when the hospital was imperfectly venti 



MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANIZED BEING. 47 

lated, every sixth child died within nine days after birth 
of convulsive disease, and that, after means of thorough 
ventilation had been adopted, the mortality of infants, 
within the same time, in five succeeding years, was re 
duced to nearly one in twenty.* A third organic law, 
(applicable to man, is, that he shall duly exercise his 
organs, this condition being an indispensable requisite of 
health. The reward of obedience to this law, is enjoy- 
ment in the very act of exercising the functions, pleasing 
consciousness of existence, and the acquisition of num- 
berless gratifications and advantages, of which labor, or 
the exerciso»of our powers, is the procuring means; dis- 
obedience is punished with derangement and sluggish- 
ness of the functions, with general ungasiness or positive 
pain, and with the denial of gratification to numerous 
faculties. 

Directing our attention to the constitution of the 
human body, we perceive that the power of reproduction 
is bestowed on man, and also intellect, to enable him to 
discover and obey the conditions necessary for the trans- 
mission of a healthy organic frame to his descendants; 
that digestive organs are given to him for his nutrition, 
and innumerable vegetable and animal productions are 
placed around him, in wise relationship to these organs. 

Without attempting to expound minutely the organic 
structure of man, or to trace in detail its adaptation to 
his external condition, I shall offer some observations in 
support of the proposition, that the due exercise of the 
osseous, muscular, and nervous systems, under the guid- 
ance of intellect and moral sentiment, and in accordance 
with the physical laws, contributes to human enjoyment; 
and, that neglect of this exercise, or an abuse of it, by 
carrying it to excess, or by conducting it in opposition 
to the moral, intellectual, or physical laws, is punished 
with pain. 

* Edin. New Phil. Jour. Oct. 1834, p. 416. 



48 MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANIZED BEING. 

The earth is endowed with the capability of producing 
an ample supply for all our wants, provided we expend 
muscular and nervous energy in its cultivation; while, in 
most climates, it refuses to produce, if we withhold this 
labor and allow it to lie waste: Further, the Creator has 
presented us with timber, metal, wool, 'and countless 
materials, which, by means of muscular power, may be 
converted into dwelling places, clothing, and all the lux- 
uries of life. The fertility of the earth, and the demands 
of the body for food and clothing, are so- benevolently 
adapted to each other, that, with rational restraint on 
population, a few hours' labor each day frorrvevery indi- 
vidual capable of labor, would suffice to furnish all with 
every commodity Jjiat could really add to enjoyment 
( It has been computed,' says Dr Franklin, ' by some 
political arithmetician, that, if every man and woman 
would work for four hours each day on something useful, 
that labor would be sufficient to procure all the neces- 
saries and comforts of life; want and misery would be 
banished out of the world; and the rest of the twenty-four 
hours might be leisure and pleasure.' {Dr. Franklin, — 
Essay on Luxury, Idleness, and Industry.) 

In the tropical regions of the globe, where a high 
atmospheric temperature diminishes the quantum of mus- 
cular energy, the fertility and productiveness of the soil 
are increased in a like proportion, so that less labor 
suffices. Less labor, also, is required to provide habi- 
tations and raiment. In the colder latitudes, muscular 
energy is greatly increased, and there much higher de- 
mands are made upon it: The earth is more sterile; 
the rude winds render firmer fabrics necessary to resist 
their violence ; and the piercing frosts command a thicker 
covering to be used for the body. 

Farther, the food afforded by the soil in each climate 
appears to be adapted to the maintenance of the organic 
constitution of the people in health, and to the supply of 
the muscular energy necessary for the particular wants of 



MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ORGANIZED BEING. 49 

,the situation. In the Arctic Regions no farinaceous food 
|ripens; but on putting the question to Dr. Richardson, how* 
^he, accustomed to the bread and vegetables of the tem- 
perate regions, was able to endure the pure animal diet, 
^which formed his only support on his expedition to the 
^shores of the Polar Sea along with Captain Franklin, he 
.replied, that the effect of the extreme dry cold to which 
Jie and his companions were constantly exposed, living, as 
^they did, in the open air, was to produce a desire for the 
most stimulating food they could obtain; that bread in 
f such a climate was not only not desired, but comparative 
\y impotent, as an article of diet; that pure animal food, 
^and the fatter the better, was the only sustenance that 
maintained the tone of the corporeal system; but that 
when it was abundant (and the quantity required was 
much greater than in milder latitudes), a delightful vigor 
i and buoyancy of 'mind and body were enjoyed, that 
Tendered life highly agreeable. Now, in beautiful har- 
mony with these wants of the human frame, these regions 
.abound, during summer, in countless herds of deer, in 
rabbits, partridges, ducks, and, in short, in game of every 
description, and fish-; and the flesh of these dried, con- 
stitutes delicious food in winter, when the earth is wrap- 
ped in one wide mantle of snow. 

In Scotland, the climate is moist and moderately cold, 
the greater part of the surface is mountainous, well 
adapted for rearing sheep and cattle, while a certain por- 
tion consists of fertile plains, fitted for raising farinaceous 
food. If the same law holds in this country, the diet of 
the people should consist of animal and farinaceous food, 
the former predominating. And on such food, accordingly, 
the Scotsman thrives best. As we proceed to warmer 
latitudes, to France for instance, we find the soil and tem- 
perature # less congenial to sheep and cattle, but more fa- 
vorable to corn and wine; and the Frenchman inherits 
a native vigor of body and elasticity of mind, that en 
able him to flourish in health, on less of animal food, thar 

5 



50 MAN CONSIDERED AS AJ¥ ORGANIZED BEING. 

would be requisite to preserve the Scottish Highlander 
in the recesses of his mountains, in a like gay and alert 
condition. From one of a series of interesting letters oa 
the agriculture of France, by M. Lullin de Chateauvieux, 
published in the Bibliotheque Universelle, it appears that 
the consumption of beef in that country relative to the 
population, is only one-sixth of what it is in England. 
Journal of Agriculture, No. iii. p. 390. The plains of 
Hindostan are too hot for the extensive cultivation of the 
sheep and the ox, but produce rice and vegetable spices 
in prodigious abundance, and the native is healthy, vig- 
orous and active, when supplied with rice and curry, and 
becomes sick, when obliged to live chiefly on animal diet 
He is supplied with less muscular energy from this species 
of food; but his soil and climate require far less labori- 
ous exertion to maintain him in comfort, than those of 
Britain, Germany, or Russia. 

So far, then, the external world appears to be wisely 
and benevolently adapted to the organic system of man, 
that is, to his nutrition, and to the development and ex- 
ercise of his corporeal organs. The natural law appears 
to be, that every one who desires to» enjoy the pleasures 
of health, must expend in labor the energy which the 
Creator has infused into his limbs. A wide choice is left 
to man, as to the mode in which he shall exercise his ner- 
vous and muscular systems: The laborer, for example, 
digs the ground, and the squire engages in the chase; 
both pursuits exercise the body. The penalty of neglect- 
ing this law is imperfect digestion and disturbed sleep, 
debility, bodily and mental; lassitude, and, if carried to 
a certain length, confirmed bad health and death. The 
penalty for over-exerting these systems is exhaustion, 
mental incapacity, the desire of strong artificial stimulants, 
such as ardent spirits, general insensibility, grossness of 
feeling and perception, with disease and shortened life. 

Society has not recognised this law, f»nd, in conse- 
quence, the higher orders despise labor, ?nd suffer the 



MENTAL FACULTIES OF MAN. 51 

first penalty; while the lower orders are oppressed with 
toil, and undergo the second. The penalties serve to 
! provide motives for obedience to the law, and whenever 
it is recognised, and the consequences aro discovered to 
be inevitable, men will no longer shun labor as painful 
and ignominious, but resort to it as a source of pleasure 
and advantage. 

SECTION III. 

MAN CONSIDERED AS AN ANIMAL— MORAL— AND INTELLECTUAL 

BEING. 

I have adverted to the bodily constitution of man, 
which is essentially animal; but I observe, in the third 
place, that man, viewed in regard to his mental constitu- 
tion, is an animal — moral — and intellectual being. To 
discover the adaptation of these parts of his nature to 
his external circumstances, we must first know what are 
his various animal, moral, and intellectual powers them- 
selves. Phrenology gives us a view of them, drawn from 
observation; and as I have verified the inductions of 
that science, so as to satisfy myself that it is the most 
complete and correct exposition of the Nature of Man 
which has yet been given, I adopt its classification of 
faculties as the basis of the subsequent observations. Ac- 
cording to Phrenology, then, the Human Faculties are 
the following: — 

Order I. FEELINGS. 

Genus I. PROPENSITIES— Common to Man with the Lowet 

Animals. 
The Love of Life. 

An Appetite for Food. — Uses: Nutrition. — Abuses: Gluttony and 
n» drunkenness. 

1 Amativeness ; 'produces sexual love. 

2 Philoprogenitiveness. — Uses: Love of offspring. — Muses: Pam- 

pering and spoiling children. 

3 Concentrativeness. — Uses : It gives the desire for permanence 

in place, and for permanence of emotions and ideas in the 



52 MENTAL FACULTIES OF MAN. 

mind. — Abuses : Aversion to move abroad ; morbid dwelling on 
internal emotions and ideas, to the neglect of external impressions. 

4. Adhesiveness. — Uses: Attachment; friendship and society result 

from it. — Abuses : Clanship for improper objects, attachment to 
worthless individuals. It is generally strong in women. 

5. Combativeness. — Uses : Courage to meet danger, to overcome dif- 

ficulties, and to resist attacks. — Muses : Love of contention, and 
tendency to provoke and assault. This feeling obviously adapts 
man to a world in which danger and difficulty abound. 

6 Destructiveness. — Uses: Desire to destroy noxious objects, and 
to kill for food. It is very discernible in carnivorous animals. 
— Muses : Cruelty, desire to torment, tendency to passion, rage, 
harshness and severity in speech and writing. This feeling 
places man in harmony with death and destruction, which are 
woven into the system of sublunary creation. 

7. Secretiveness. — Uses: Tendency to restrain within the mind the 
various emotions and ideas that involuntarily present them- 
selves, until the judgment has approved of giving them utter- 
ance; it also aids the artist and the actor in giving expression 
and is an ingredient in prudence. Abuses: Cunning, deceit, 
duplicity, lying, and, joined with Acquisitiveness, theft. 

8 Acquisitiveness. — Uses: Desire to possess, and tendency to ac- 
cumulate articles of utility, to provide against want. — Abuses. 
Inordinate desire for property ; selfishness ; avarice. 

9. Constructiveness. — Uses : Desire to build and construct works 

of art. — Muses: Construction of engines to injure or destroy, 
and fabrication of objects to deceive mankind. 

Genus II. SENTIMENTS. 
I. Sentiments common to Man with the Lower Animals. 

10. Self-Esteem. — Uses: Self-respect, self-interest, love of inde* 

pendence, personal dignity. — Muses: Pride, disdain, overween- 
ing conceit, excessive selfishness, love of dominion. 

11 Love of Approbation. — Uses: Desire of the esteem of others, 

love of praise, desire of fame or glory. — Muses : Vanity, ambi- 
tion, thirst for praise independently of praise worthiness. 

12 Cautiousness. — Uses . It gives origin to the sentiment of fear, 

the desire to shun danger, to circumspection; and it is an ingre- 
dient in prudence. — Muses: Excessive timidity, poltroonery 
unfounded apprehensions, despondency, melancholy. 

13 Benevolence. — Uses: Desire of the happiness of others, universal 

charity, mildness of disposition, and a lively sympathy, with the 
enjoyment of all animated beings. — Muses : Profusion, injurious 
indulgence of the appetites and fancies of others, prodigality, fa 
cility of temper. 



MENTAL FACULTIES OF MAN. 53 

II. Sentiments prober to Man. 

14 Veneration. — Uses: Tendency to worship, adore, venerate^ or 
respect whatever is great and good ; gives origin to the religious 
sentiment. — Muses: Senseless respect for unworthy objects 
consecrated by time or situation, love of antiquated customs, 
abject subserviency to persons in authority, superstition. 

15. Firmness. — Uses: Determination, perseverance, steadiness of 

purpose. — Abuses : Stubbornness, infatuation, tenacity in evil. 

16. Conscientiousness. — Uses : It gives origin to the sentiment of 

justice, or respect for the rights of others, openness to con- 
viction, the love of truth. — Abuses : Scrupulous adherence to 
noxious principles when ignorantly embraced, excessive refine- 
ment in the views oi duty and obligation, excess in remorse, or 
self-condemnation. 

17. Hope. — Uses : Tendency to expect and to look forward to the 

future with confidence and reliance ; it cherishes faith. — Abuses : 
Credulity, absurd expectations of felicity not founded on reason. 

18. Wonder. — Uses : The desire of novelty, admiration of the new, 

the unexpected, the grand, the wonderful, and extraordinary. — 
Abuses: Love of the marvellous, astonishment. — Note. Vene- 
ration, Hope, and Wonder, combined, give the tendency to 
religion ; their abuses produce superstition and belief in false 
miracles, in prodigies, magic, ghosts, and all supernatural ab- 
surdities. 

19. Ideality. — Uses: Love of the beautiful and splendid, the desire 

of excellence, poetic feeling. — Abuses: Extravagance and ab- 
surd enthusiasm, preference of the showy and glaring to the 
solid and useful, a tendency to dwell in the regions of fancy 
and to neglect the duties of life. 

20. Wit — Gives the feeling of the ludicrous. 

21. Imitation — Copies the manners, gestures, and actions of others, 

and nature generally. 

Order II. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES. 
Genus I. EXTERNAL SENSES. 



Feeling or Touch. 

Taste. 

Smell. 

Hearing. 

Light 



Uses : To bring man into communication with 
external objects, and to enable him to en- 
joy them. — Abuses: Excessive indulgence 
in the pleasures arising from the senses to 
the extent of impairing the organs and 
debilitating the mind. 

5* * 



54 MENTAL FACULTIES OF MAN 

Genus II. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES— which perceive 

existence. 

22. Individuality — Takes cognizance of existence and simple facti 

23. Form — Renders man observant of form. 

24. Size — Renders man observant of dimensions, and aids perspective, 

25. Weight — communicates the perception of momentum, weight, 

resistance, and aids equilibrium. 

26. Coloring — Gives perception of colors. 

Genus III. INTELLECTUAL FACULTIES— which perceive 
the relations of external objects. 

27. Locality — Gives the idea of relative position. 

28. Number — Gives the talent for calculation. 

29. Order — Communicates the love of physical arrangement. 

30. Eventuality — Takes cognizance of occurrences and events. 

31 Time — Gives rise to the perception of duration. 

32 Tune. — The sense of Melody arises from it. 

33 Language — Gives a facility in acquiring a knowledge of arbitrary 

signs to express thoughts, — readiness in the use of them; — and 
a power of inventing them 

Genus IV. REFLECTING FACULTIES -which compare, 
judge, and discriminate. 

34 Comparison — Gives the power of discoverhig analogies, resem- 

blances, and differences. 
35. Causality — Traces the dependencies of phenomena, and the re- 
lation of cause and effect. 

Observation proves that each of these faculties is con- 
nected with a particular portion of the brain, and that the 
power of manifesting each bears a relation to the size and 
activity of its organ. The organs differ in relative size 
in different individuals, and hence their differences of 
talents and dispositions. This fact is of the greatest 
importance in the philosophy of man; and the circuni- 
stance of its having been unknown until Dr. Gall's dis- 
covery of the functions of the brain, is sufficient to ex 
plain the past barrenness of mental science, and to render 
probable the assertion, that a great flood of light on this 



MENTAL FACULTIES OP MAN. 55 

subject is now pouring forth on the world. These facul- 
ties are not all equal in excellence and authority; some 
are common to man with the lower animals; and others 
are peculiar to man. Before comparing the human mind, 
therefore, with its external condition, it becomes an ob- 
ject of primary importance to discover the relative rank 
and authority of these different powers. If the Animal 
Faculties are naturally or necessarily supreme, in other 
words, if man is by nature only an animal of superior 
intelligence, then external nature, if it be wisely consti- 
tuted, may be expected to bear direct reference, in its 
arrangements, to this supremacy; and to be calculated to 
render him most happy when acting in conformity with 
his animal feelings. If the Moral and Intellectual Fac- 
ulties hold the ascendancy, then the constitution of exter- 
nal nature may be expected to be in harmony with them; 
or, in other words, to confer the highest degree of enjoy- 
ment on man, when he acts under the guidance of his 
moral and intellectual powers. 

SECTION IV. 

THE FACULTIES OF MAN COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER; OR 
THE SUPREMACY OF THE MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTEL- 
LECT. 

According to the phrenological theory of human na- 
ture, the faculties are divided into Propensities common 
to man with the lower animals, Sentiments common to 
man with the lower animals, Sentiments proper to man, 
and Intellect. Every faculty stands in a definite relation 
to certain external objects; — when it is internally active 
it desires these objects; — when they are presented to it 
they excite it to activity, and delight it with agreeable 
sensations. Iluman happiness and misery are resolvable 
nto the gratification, or denial of gratification, of one or 
more of our faculties, of the external senses, or of the 
feelings connected with our bodily frame. The faculties, 



56 SUPREMACY OF THE 

in themselves, are mere instincts; the moral sentiments 
and intellect are higher than the animal propensities. 
Every faculty is good in itself, but all are liable to abuse. 
Their manifestations are right only when directed by 
enlightened intellect and moral sentiment. 

The faculties may be considered as acting in a variety 
of ways: First, The lower propensities may be viewed as 
acting by themselves, each seeking its own gratification, 
but, without transgressing the limits prescribed -by en- 
lightened intellect and the moral sentiments: this gratifi- 
cation is legitimate and proper, and the fountain of much 
enjoyment to human beings. Secondly, The propensi- 
ties may be considered as acting in opposition to the 
dictates of the moral sentiments and intellect; a mer- 
chant, for instance, by misrepresentation of the real 
qualities of his commodities, may obtain a higher price 
for them than if he spoke the truth; or, by depreciating 
unjustly the goods of a rival, he may attract that rival's 
customers to himself: By' such conduct he would appar- 
ently benefit himself, but he would infringe the dictates 
of the moral sentiments and intellect; in other words, he 
would do an injury to the interests of his rival propor- 
tionate to the undue benefit which he attempted to secure 
to himself: All such manifestations of the propensities 
are abuses, and, when, pursued to their results as a sys- 
tem, injure not only the individual against whom they are 
directed, but him also who practises them. Thirdly, 
The moral sentiments may be regarded as acting by 
themselves, each seeking its own gratification; thus Be- 
nevolence may prompt an individual to do acts of kind- 
ness; and Veneration to perform exercises of devotion: 
When the gratification sought by any one or more of the 
sentiments does not infringe the duties prescribed by all 
the other sentiments and enlightened intellect, the actions 
are proper. .But any one moral sentirhen , acting by 
itself, may run into excess, — Benevolence, for instance 
may instigate to generosity at the expense of justice 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 57 

Veneration may prompt a person to run after sermons 
abroad, when he should be instructing his children at 
home, — and these also are abuses. 

Thus there is, 1st, A. wide sphere of action provided for 
the propensities, in which each may seek its gratification 
in its own way, without exceeding the limits of morality, 
and this is a good and proper action; 2dly, There is 
ample scope for the exercise of each of the moral and 
intellectual faculties, without infringing the dictates of 
any of the other faculties belonging to the same classes; 
and this action also is good: But, on the other hand, 
the propensities, and also the moral and intellectual 
faculties, may act singly or in groups, in opposition to 
the dictates of the whole moral sentiments and intellec- 
tual powers enlightened by knowledge, and acting in 
combination; and all such actions are wrong. Hence 
the rule of right conduct is that which is approved of by 
the whole moral and intellectual faculties fully enlight- 
ened, and acting in harmonious combination. This I call 
the supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect. 

In maintaining the supremacy of the moral sentiments 
and intellect, therefore, I do not consider any of them 
singly, nor even the whole of them collectively, as suffi- 
cient to direct conduct by their mere instinctive sugges- 
tions. To (it them to discharge this important duty, they 
must act in harmonious combination, and be illuminated 
by knowledge of science and of moral and religious duty. 
The sources of knowledge are observation and reflection, 
experience, instruction by books, teachers, and all other 
means by which the Creator has provided for the im- 
provement of the human mind. Whenever their dictates, 
thus combined and enlightened, oppose the solicitations 
of the propensities, the latter must yield; otherwise, by 
the constitution of external nature, evil will inevitably 
ensue. This is what I mean by nature being constituted 
in harmony with the supremacy of the moral sentiments 
and intellect. 



58 SUPREMACY OP THE 

Phrenology shows that different individuals possess the 
faculties in very different degrees; I do not mean, there- 
fore, to say that, in each individual, whatever the propor- 
tion of his organs may be, the dictates of his moral and 
intellectual powers are rules of conduct not to be disput- 
ed. On the contrary, in most individuals one or more of 
the moral or intellectual organs are so deficient in size, 
in proportion to the organs of the propensities, that his 
individual perceptions of duty will be far short of the 
highest standard. The dictates of the moral and intel- 
lectual powers, therefore, which constitute rules of 
conduct, are the collective dicta of the highest minds 
illuminated by the greatest knowledge. 

Let us now consider the faculties themselves. First, 
I shall view the propensities as acting by themselves, 
uninfluenced by the moral and intellectual powers. — 
The^e is an ample scope for their proper activity in this 
way, but the great distinction between the animal facul- 
ties and the powers proper to man is, that the former 
do not prompt us to seek the welfare of others, — -their 
object is chiefly the preservation of the individual him- 
self, his family or tribe; while the latter have the general 
happiness of the human race, and our duties to God, 
as their ends. 

The Love of Life, and The Appetite for Food, 
have clearly reference to the preservation of the individ- 
ual alone. 

Even the domestic affections, amiable and respectable 
as they undoubtedly are when combined with the moral 
feelings, have self as their chief object. The first three 
propensities, Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and 
Adhesiveness, or the group of the domestic affections, 
desire a conjuga. partner, offspring and friends: the 
obtaining of these affords them delight, — the removal of 
them occasions pain. But they do not take an interest 
in the welfare of their objects on their own account. He 
who loves from Amativeness alone is sensual, faithless 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT 59 

and negligent of the happiness of its object. He who 
combines with love, springing from this propensity, 
Benevolence, Veneration, Justice, and Intellect, will 
disinterestedly promote the real happiness of the object 
of his affection. 

Thus the whole faculties must be gratified harmoni- 
ously, or at least the gratification of one or more of 
them must not offend any of the others. For example, 
suppose the group of the domestic affections to be highly 
interested in an individual, and strongly to desire to form 
an alliance with him, but that the person so loved is 
improvident and immoral, and altogether an object of 
whom the higher faculties, if left dispassionately to sur- 
vey his qualities, could not approve; then, if an alliance 
be formed with him, under the ungovernable impulses of 
the lower feelings, bitter days of repentance will neces- 
sarily follow, when these begin to languish, and the 
latter faculties receive offence from his qualities. If, 
on the other hand, the domestic affections are guided to 
an object pleasing to the better powers, these themselves 
will be gratified, they will double the delights afforded by 
the inferior faculties, and render the enjoyment permanent. 

The love of children, springing from Philoprogenitive- 
ness, when acting alone, is the same in kind as that*of 
the miser for his gold; an interest in the object, for the 
sake of the gratification it affords to his own mind, with- 
out desiring, or being able to distinguish, what is good 
for the object on its own account. This truth is recog- 
nised by Sir Walter Scott. He says, ' Elspat's ardent, 
though selfish affection for her son, incapable of being 
qualified by a regard for the true interests of the unfortu- 
nate object of her attachment, resembled the instinctive 
fondness of the animal race for their offspring ; and, 
diving little farther into futurity than one of the inferior 
creatures, she only felt that to be separated from Hamisb 
was to die*.' 

* Chronicles of the Canongate, vol. i. p. 281. 



60 SUPREMACY OF THE 

In man, this faculty generally acts along with Benevo- 
lence, and a disinterested desire of the happiness of the 
child mingles along with, and elevates the mere instinct 
of, Philoprogenitiveness; but the sources of these two 
affections* are different, their degrees vary in different 
persons, and their ends also are dissimilar. This is 
exemplified every day by the conduct of mothers, who, 
although actuated by an intense instinctive love of their 
offspring, nevertheless spoil them by vicious indulgence, 
and render them completely miserable. If philoprogen- 
itiveness were capable, by itself, of desiring and perceiv- 
ing the real welfare of children, the treatment of them 
would,, in all cases, be rational and beneficial, in propor- 
tion to the degree in which this faculty was active ; but 
this is not consistent with experience. Again, Christian 
mothers, who sincerely believe that, at death, their chil- 
dren pass into everlasting happiness, which is far better 
for them than sojourning on earth, nevertheless, show 
the highest indications of bereavement and sorrow on 
their loss;— thus affording evidence that their love was 
an instinct which gives pain when disappointed, and not 
a disinterested affection concerned exclusively for the 
happiness of the being itself which constituted its object. 

The same observation applies to the affection proceed- 
ing from Adhesiveness. When this faculty acts alone, 
it desires, for its own satisfaction, a friend to love; but, 
from its own impulses, it is not interested in the welfare 
of its object. It feels attached to him as a sheep does 
to its fellows of the flock; but, if Benevolence do not act 
along with it, it does nothing for the happiness of that 
friend. The horse feels melancholy when his companion 
is removed; but the feeling appears to be one of uneasi- 
ness at the absence of an object which gratified his 
Adhesiveness. His companion may have been led to a 
richer pasture, or introduced to more agreeable society; 
yet this does not assuage the distress suffered by him at 
his removal; his tranquillity, in short, is restored only by 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT 61 

time causing the activity of Adhesiveness to suhside, or 
by the substitution of another object on which it may 
exert itself. In human nature, the effect of the faculty, 
when acting singly, is the same ; and this accounts for 
the fact of the almost total indifference of many persons 
who were really attached, by Adhesiveness, to each 
other, when one falls into misfortune, and becomes a 
disagreeable object to the pride or vanity of the other. 
Suppose two persons, elevated in rank, and possessed of 
affluence, to have each Adhesiveness, Self-Esteem, and 
Love of Approbation large, with Benevolence and Con- 
scientiousness moderate, it is obvious that, while both 
are in prosperity, they may really like each other's 
society, and feel a reciprocal attachment, because there 
will be mutual sympathy in their Adhesiveness, and the 
Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation of each will be 
gratified by the rank and circumstances of the other; but 
imagine one of them to fall into misfortune, and to cease 
to be an object gratifying to Self-Esteem and Love of 
Approbation; suppose that he becomes a poor friend 
instead of a rich and influential one; the harmony be- 
tween their selfish faculties will be broken, and then 
Adhesiveness in the one who remains rich will transfer 
its affection to another individual who may gratify it, and 
also supply agreeable sensations to Self-Esteem and 
Love of Approbation — to a genteel friend, in short, who 
will look well in the eye of the world. 

Much of this conduct occurs in society, and the whining 
complaint is very ancient, that the storms of adversity 
disperse friends, just as the winter winds strip leaves 
from the forest that gaily adorned it in the sunshine of 
summer; and many moral sentences have been pointed 
and episodes finely turned, on the selfishness and cor- 
ruption of poor human nature. But such friendships 
were attachments founded on the lower feelings, which, 
by their constitution, do not regard the welfare of others, 
»nd the desertion complained of is the fair and legitimate 

6 



OZ SUPREMACY OF THE 

result of the principles on which both parties acted 
during the gay hours of prosperity. If we look at a cast 
of the head of Sheridan, we shall perceive large Adhe- 
siveness, Self-Esteem, and Love of Approbation, with 
deficient reflecting organs, and moderate Conscientious- 
ness. He has large Individuality, Comparison, Secre- 
tiveness, and Imitation, which gave him talents for obser- 
vation and display. When these earned him a brilliant 
reputation, h@ was surrounded by friends, and he himself 
probably felt attachment in return. But he was deficient 
in morality, and this prevented him from loving his 
friends with a true, disinterested, and honest regard; he 
abused their kindness ; and, as he sunk into poverty and 
wretchedness, and ceased to be an honor to them, or to 
excite their Love of Approbation, all constituted like 
himself deserted him. But the whole connection was 
founded on selfish principles ; Sheridan honored them, 
and they flattered Sheridan; and the abandonment was 
the natural consequence of the cessation of gratification 
to their selfish feelings. I shall by and by point out the 
sources of a loftier and purer friendship, and its effects. 
It was only those individuals who acted from Adhesive- 
ness combined with the higher feelings, who remained 
attached to Sheridan through all his misfortunes. 

Combativeness and Destructiveness, also, when act- 
ing in combination with the other propensities, do not 
in their own nature seek the happiness of others. If 
aggression is committed against us, Combativeness draws 
the sword and repels the attack : Destructiveness inflicts 
vengeance for the offence ; both feelings are obviously 
very different from Benevolence. I do not say that, in 
themselves, they are despicable or sinful ; on the contrary, 
they are necessary, and, when legitimately employed, 
highly useful ; but still their first and instinctive object is 
the preservation of self. 

The next organ is Acquisitiveness. It blindly desires 
to possess, is pleased with accumulating, and suffers 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 63 

great uneasiness in being deprived of possessions; but its 
object is not the happiness of others. It is highly useful, 
like all the other faculties, for even Benevolence cannot 
give away until Acquisitiveness has acquired. There 
are friendships, particularly among mercantile men, 
founded on Adhesiveness and Acquisitiveness, just as in 
fashionable life they are founded on Adhesiveness and 
Love of Approbation. Two individuals fall into a course 
of dealing, by which each reaps profit from transactions 
with the other: this leads to intimacy; Adhesiveness 
mingles its influence, and a feeling of attachment is at 
last produced. The moment, however, that the Acquisi- 
tiveness of the one suffers the least inroad from that of 
the other, and their interests clash, they are apt, if no 
higher principle unite them, to become bitter enemies. 
It is probable that, while these fashionable and commer- 
i cial friendships last, the parties may profess great recip- 
I rocal esteem and regard, and that, when a rupture takes 
place, the one who is depressed or disobliged, may recall 
these expressions and charge the other with hypocrisy; 
but they really were not insincere. From Adhesiveness 
and gratified Love of Approbation, each probably felt 
something which he colored over, and perhaps believed 
to be disinterested friendship; but if each would honestly 
probe his own conscience, he would be obliged to ac- 
knowledge that the whole basis of the connection was 
selfish; aad hence, that the result is just what every man 
ought to expect, who places his reliance for happiness 
chiefly on the lower feelings. 

Secretiveness suppresses feelings that are improper 
to be manifested, and that might injure us with other 
individuals, and restrains the faculties generally. It also 
desires to find out secrets that may enable its possessor 
to guard self against hostile plots or designs. In itself it 
does not desire, in any respect, the benefit of others. 

Self-Esteem is, in its very essence and name, selfish; 
it is the love of ourselves, and the esteem of ourselves 
par excellence. 



64 SUPREMACY OF THE 

Love of Approbation, although many think otherwise, 
does not in itself desire the real happiness of others. Its 
object is applause to ourselves, to be esteemed ourselves; 
and if it prompt us to do services, or to say agreeable 
things to others, it is not from pure love of them, but for 
the sake of obtaining the self-gratification afforded by 
their good opinion. 

Suppose, for example, that we* are acquainted with a 
person who has committed an error in some official duty, 
who has done or said something that the public disap- 
prove of, and which we see to be really wrong, — Benevo- 
lence and Conscientiousness would prompt us to lay 
before our friend the very head and front of his offending, 
and conjure him to forsake his error, and make public 
amends: — Love of Approbation, on the other hand, would 
simply desire to gain his applause, without looking far- 
ther. If unenlightened, it would either render us averse 
to speak to him at all on the subject, lest he. should be 
offended, or prompt us to extenuate his fault, to gloss it 
over, and represent it either as a simple mistake, or as 
extremely trivial. If we analyze the motive which 
prompts to this course, we shall find that it is not love 
of our friend, or consideration for his welfare; but fear 
lest, by our presenting to him disagreeable truths, he 
should feel offended with us, and deprive us of the grati- 
fication afforded by his good opinion. 

Another illustration may be given. A manufacturer 
in a country town, having acquired a considerable fortune 
by trade, applied part of it in building a princely mansion, 
which he furnished in the richest and most expensive 
style of fashion. He asked his customers, near and 
distant, to visit him, and led them into apartments that 
absolutely dazzled them with splendor. This excited 
their curiosity and wonder, which was precisely the effect 
he desired; he then led them over his whole suite of 
rooms, and displayed before them his grandeur and taste. 
In doing so, he imagined that he was conferring a high 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 65 

[ pleasure on them, and filling their minds with an intense 
i admiration of his greatness; but the real effect was very 
• different. The motive of his conduct was not love of 
5 them, or regard for their happiness or welfare; it was not 
i Benevolence to -others that prompted him to build the 
j palace; it was not Veneration, nor was it Conscientiois- 
ness. The fabric sprung from Self-Esteem and Love of 
I Approbation, combined, no doubt, with considerable In- 
. lellect and Ideality. In leading his humble brethren in 
. trade through the princely halls, over the costly carpets 
. and amidst the gilded mirrors, and rich array, that every- 
where met their eyes, he exulted in the consciousness of 
i his own importance, and asked for their admiration, not 
as an expression of respect for any real benefit conferred 
upon them, but as the much relished food of his own 
selfish vanity. 

Let us attend, in the next place, to the effect which 
his display would produce on those to whom it was 
addressed. To gain their esteem or affection, it would 
have been necessary to manifest towards them Benevo- 
lence, respect, and justice: In short, to cause another 
individual to love us, we must make him the object of 
our moral sentiments, which have his good and happiness 
for their end. Here, however, these were not the inspir- 
ing motives of the conduct, and the want of them would 
be instinctively felt. The customers, who possessed the 
least shrewdness, would ascribe the whole exhibition to 
the vanity of the owner, and they would either pity, or 
envy and hate him: — If their own moral sentiments pre- 
dominated, they would pity him; if their Self-Esteem and 
Love of Approbation were paramount, they would envy 
his magnificence, yet be offended at his assumed superi- 
ority, and would hate him. It would be only the silliest 
and the vainest who would be at all gratified; and their 
satisfaction would arise from the feeling, that they could 
now return to their own circle, and boast how great a 
friend they had, and in how grand a style they had been 

6* 



66 SUPREMACY OF THE 

entertained, — this display being a direct gratification of 
their own Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, by iden- 
tifying themselves with him. Even this pleasure would 
exist only where the admirer was so humble in rank as 
to entertain no idea of rivalship, and so limited in intellect 
and sentiments as not to perceive the worthlessness of 
the qualities by which he was captivated. 

In like manner, when persons, even of more sense 
than the manufacturer here alluded to, give entertain- 
ments to their friends, they sometimes fail in their object 
from the same cause. Their leading motive is a wish to 
show off themselves, much more than to confer real hap- 
piness upon their acquaintances; and, by the irreversible 
law of human nature, this must fail in exciting good-will 
and pleasure in the minds of those to whom it is address- 
ed, because it disagreeably affects their Self-Esteem and 
Love of Approbation. In short, to be really successful 
in gratifying our friends, we must keep our own selfish 
faculties in due subordination, and pour out copious 
streams of real kindness from the higher sentiments, 
animated and elevated by intellect; and all who have ex- 
perienced the heart-felt joy and satisfaction attending 
an entertainment conducted on this principle, will never 
quarrel with the homeliness of the fare, or feel uneasv 
about the absence of fashion in the service. 

Cautiousness is the next faculty, and is a sentiment 
instituted to prompt us to shun danger. Acting apart 
from the moral sentiments, it would seek first to protect 
self from evil, and this is its essential object. 

This terminates the list of the Feelings common to 
man with the lower animals*, and which, as we have 

* Benevolence is stated in the works on Phrenology, as common to 
man with the lower animals ; but in these creatures it appears to pro- 
duce rather passive meekness and good nature, than actual desire for 
each other's happiness. In the human race, this last is its propel 
function ; and, viewed in this light, I treat of it as exclusively a 
human faculty. 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 67 

Been, when acting instinctively, either singly cir in com- 
bination with each other, apart from the moral powers, 
do not seek the welfare of others as their aim, but have 
self-preservation as their leading objects. They are 
given for the protection and advantage of our individual 
nature, and, when manifested in their proper spheres, 
are highly useful, and also respectable, viewed with re- 
ference to that end; but they are sources of innumerable 
evils when allowed to usurp the ascendency over the 
moral faculties, and to become the leading springs of our 
social conduct. 

I proceed to notice the Moral Sentiments, which are 
proper to man, and to point out their objects and rela- 
tions. 

Benevolence has direct reference to other beings. It 
desires purely and disinterestedly the happiness of its 
objects; itlpves for the sake of the person beloved; if he 
be well, and the sunbeams of prosperity shine warmly 
around him, it exults and delights in his felicity. It 
desires a diffusion of joy, and renders the. feet swift and 
the arm strong in the cause of charity and love. By the 
beneficence of the Creator, when gratified, it is the 
source of great enjoyment to its possessor; and some 
authors have asserted, that men are benevolent for the 
sake of this pleasure; but this is not correct. The 
impulse is instinctive, and acts before the intellect has 
anticipated the Result. 

Veneration also has reference to others. It looks up 
with a pure and elevated emotion to the being to whom it 
is directed, whether God or our fellow men, and delights 
in the contemplation of their venerable and admirable 
qualities. It desires to find out excellence, and to repose 
jpon it. It renders self lowly, humble, and submissive 
God is its highest object. 

Hope spreads its gay wing in the boundless regions of 



• 



68 SUPREMACY OP THE 

futurity. It desires good, and expects it to come, 'it 
incites us indeed to aim at a good which we can live 
without;' but its influence is soft, soothing, and happy. 
When combined with the propensities, it expects good 
to self; when with the moral sentiments, it anticipates 
universal happiness. 

Ideality delights in perfection from the pure pleasure 
of contemplating it. So far as it is concerned, the pic- 
ture, the statue, the landscape, or the mansion, on which 
it abides with intensest rapture, is as pleasing, althoug 
the property of another, as if all its own. It is a sprin 
that is touched by the beautiful, wherever it exists; an 
hence its means of enjoyment are as unbounded as the 
universe is extensive. 

Wonder seeks the new and the striking, and is de 
lighted with change; but there is no desire of appropria- 
tion to self in its longings. 

Conscientiousness stands in the midway between self 
and other individuals. It is a regulator of^pur animal 
feelings, and points out the limit which they must not 
pass. It desires to do to another as we would have 
another to do to us, and is the guardian of the welfare of 
our fellow men, while it sanctions and supports our per- 
sonal feelings within the bounds of due moderation. It is 
a noble feeling: and the mere consciousness of its being 
bestowed upon us, ought to bring home to our minds an 
intense conviction that the Author of the universe is at 
once wise and just. 

The sentiments now enumerated may be erroneously 
directed, or may act in excess, and, in either case, may 
give rise to abuses, such as profusion, superstition, or ex- 
travagant refinement. But the grand distinction between 
them and the propensities is this: The propensities acting 
even legitimately singly, or in combination with each 
other, but not in combination with the moral sentanents, 
have individual interests for their -direct objects, and do 
not actively desire the happiness of other beings for the 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 65 

sake of these beings themselves: The actions of the lower 
animals affgrd illustrations in point. The moral powers / 
on the other hand, acting singly, or in harmonious combi- 
nation with each other, and, directed by enlightened intel- 
lect, desire the welfare of other beings as their direct 
object. The p irest and the best of men afford in their 
conduct, examples of the truth of this remark. 

Intellect is universal in its applications. It may be- 
come the handmaid of any of the faculties; it may devise 
a plan to murder or to bless, to steal or to bestow, to rear 
up or to destroy; but, as its proper use is to observe the 
different objects of creation, to mark their relations, and 
direct the propensities and sentiments to their proper and 
legitimate enjoyments, it has a boundless sphere of ac- 
tivity, and, when properly exercised and applied, is a 
source of high and inexhaustible delight. 

The world is so constituted, that all necessary and 
really advantageous gratifications of the propensities are 
compatible with the dictates of the moral sentiments and 
intellectual powers when acting in harmonious combina- 
tion; and that all gratifications of the propensities which 
are disapproved of by the higher powers, are, in their 
ultimate consequences, hurtful to the individual himself. 
In like manner, all manifestations of the higher senti- 
ments, when acting inharmonious combination, and direct- 
ed by enlightened intellect, although they tend directly 
to the welfare of others, indirectly contribute, in a high 
degree, to the enjoyment of the virtuous agent. 

Keeping in view the great difference now pointed out 
"between the animal and properly human faculties, the 
reader will perceive that three consequences follow from 
the constitution of these powers: First, All the faculties, 
when in excess, are insatiable, and, from the constitution 
of the world, never can be satisfied. They indeed may 
be soon satisfied on any particular occasion. Food will 
soon fill the stomach ; success in a speculation will render 
Acquisitiveness quiescent for the moment; a triumph will 

F 



70 SUPREMACY OF THE 

satisfy for the time Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, 
a long concert will fatigue Tune ; and a tedious discourse 
will afflict Causality. But after repose they will all re- 
new their solicitations. They must all therefore be regu- 
lated; and, in particular, the lower propensities. These 
having self as their primary object, and being blind to 
consequences, do not set limits to their own indulgence; 
and, when allowed to exceed the boundaries prescribed 
by the superior sentiments and intellect, lead directly to 
misery to the individual, and injury to society. 

As this circumstance attending the propensities is of 
great practical importance, I shall make a few observa- 
tions in elucidation of it. The births and lives of child- 
ren depend upon circumstances, over which unenlightened 
men have but a limited control; and hence an individual, 
whose supreme happiness springs from the gratification 
of Philoprogenitiveness, may, by the predominance of 
that propensity, and the inactivity of the higher powers, 
be led to neglect or infringe the natural laws on which 
the lives and welfare of children depend, to treat them 
irrationally, and thus to defeat his own desires. He will 
be in constant danger of anguish and disappointment, by 
the death of his children, or by their undutiful conduct. 
Besides, Philoprogenitiveness, acting in each parent along 
with Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation, would desire 
that his children should possess the highest rank, the 
greatest wealth, and be distinguished for the most splen- 
did talents. Now the highest, the greatest, and the most 
splendid of any qualities, necessarily imply the existence 
of inferior degrees, and are attainable only by few. The 
animal faculties, therefore, must be restrained in their 
desires, and directed to their objects by the moral senti- 
ments, and by intellect, otherwise they will inevitably 
lead to disappointment. In like manner, Acquisitiveness 
desires wealth, and, as nature affords annually only a 
limited quantity of grain, cattle, fruit, flax, and other ar- 
ticles, from which food, clothing, and wealth, are man- 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 71 

ufactured; and as this quantity, divided equally among 
all the members of a state, would afford but a moderate 
portion to each; it is self-evident that, if all desire to 
acquire and possess a large amount, ninety-nine out of 
every hundred must be disappointed. This disappoint- 
ment, from the very constitution of nature, is inevitable 
to the greater number; and when individuals form schemes 
of aggrandizement, originating from desires communicat- 
ed by the animal faculties alone, they would do well to 
keep this law of nature in view. When we look around 
us, we see how few become rich; how few succeed in 
accomplishing all their lofty anticipations for the advance- 
ment of their children; and how few attain the summit of 
ambition, compared with the multitudes who fail. The 
animal faculties exist in all men, and when they act with- 
out regulation, they prompt one man to defeat the gratifi- 
cation of another. All this arises, not from error and 
imperfection in the institutions of the Creator, but from- 
blindness in men to their own nature, to the nature of ex- 
ternal objects, and to the relations established between 
them; in short, blindness to the principles of the divine 
administration of the world. 

Secondly, The animal propensities being inferior in 
their nature to the human faculties, their gratifications, 
when not approved of by the latter, leave a painful feel- 
ing of discontent and dissatisfaction in the mind, occa- 
sioned by the secret disclamation of their excessive 
action by the higher feelings. Suppose, for example, a 
young person to set out in life, with ardent wishes to 
acquire wealth and to attain honor and distinction. Im- 
agine him to rise early and sit up late, to put forth all the 
energies of a powerful mind in buying, selling, and be- 
coming rich; and that he is successful: it is obvious, that 
Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, had a 
small share in prompting him to this course of action; 
and that, in pursuing it, they have not received direct 
and intended gratification. They may have anxiously 



T2 SUPREMACY OP THE 

and wearily watched the animal faculties, longing for the 
hour when they would say Enough; their whole occupa- 
tion, in the mean time, having been to restrain them from 
such gross excesses as would have defeated their own 
ends. Suppose, then, this individual to have reached the 
evening of life, and to look back on the pleasures and 
pains of his past existence ; he must feel that there has 
been vanity and vexation of spirit, — or the want of a sat- 
isfying portion; because, the highest of his faculties have 
not been the motives of his conduct, and have received 
no direct and adequate gratification. If an individual 
has, through life, aimed at acquiring reputation, he will 
find that the real affection and esteem of mankind which 
he has gained, will be great or small in proportion to the 
degree in which he has manifested, in his habitual conduct, 
the higher or the lower faculties. If men have seen him 
selfish in his pursuit of wealth, selfish in his domestic af- 
fections, selfish in his ambition; although he may have 
pursued his oojects without positive encroachment on the 
rights of others, they will still look coldly on him, they 
will feel no glow of affection towards him, no elevated re- 
spect, and no sincere admiration. If he possess penetra- 
tion, he will see and feel that this is the case, and may 
per) nps complain that all is vanity and vexation of spirit. 
But the fault is his own; love, esteem, and sincere re- 
spect, arise, by the Creator's laws, from contemplating, 
not plodding selfish faculties, but Benevolence, Vener- 
ation, and Justice, as the motives and ends of our con- 
duct; and the individual supposed has reaped the natural 
and legitimate produce of the soil which he cultivated, 
and the seed which he sowed. 

Thirdly, The higher feelings, when acting in harmoni- 
ous combination, and directed by erilightened intellect 
have a boundless scope for gratification; their least in- 
dulgence is delightful, and their highest activity is bliss 
they cause no repentance; leave no void; but render life 
t scene at once of peaceful tranquillity and sustained 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 73 

felicity; and, what is of much importance, conduct pro- 
ceeding from their dictates carries in its train the highest 
gratification to the animal propensities themselves, of 
which the latter are susceptible. At the same time, it 
must be observed, that the sentiments err, and lead also 
to evil, when not regulated by enlightened intellect; that 
intellect in its turn must give due weight to the existence 
and desires of both the propensities and sentiments, as 
elements in the human constitution, before it can arrive 
at sound conclusions regarding conduct; and that rational 
actions and true happiness flow from the gratification of 
all the faculties in harmony with each other; the senti- 
ments and intellect bearing the directing sway. 

This proposition may be shortly illustrated. Imagine 
an individual to commence life, with the thorough con- 
viction that the higher sentiments are the superior powers, 
and that they ought to be the sources of his actions; the 
first effect would be to cause him to look habitually out- 
ward on other men and on his Creator, instead of looking 
inward on himself as the object of his highest and chief 
regard. Benevolence would infuse into his mind the feel- 
ing that there are other human beings as dear to the Cre- 
ator, and as much entitled to enjoyment as himself, and 
that his duty is to seek no gratification to himself which 
is calculated to prove injurious to them; but, on the con- 
trary, to act so as to confer on them, by his daily exer- 
tions, all the services in his power. Veneration would 
give a strong feeling of reliance on the power and wisdom 
of God, that such conduct would conduce to the highest 
gratification of all his faculties ; it would add also an hab- 
itual respect for his fellow men, as beings deserving his 
regard, and to whose reasonable wishes he was bound to 
yield a willing and sincere obedience: Lastly, Consci- 
entiousness would prompt him habitually to restrain 
his animal desires, so as to prevent the slightest abuse 
of them which would prove injurious to himself or hia 
fellow men. 

7 



74 SUPREMACY OF THE 

Let us trace, then, the effect which these principles 
would prod ice in ordinary life. Suppose a friendship 
formed by such an individual: one of his fundamental 
principles being Benevolence, which inspires with a pure 
and disinterested regard for other men, he would desire 
his friend's welfare for his friend's sake; next Venera- 
tion, acting along with intellect, would reinforce this 
love, by the conviction that it was entirely conformable to 
the law of God, and would be acceptable in His sight. 
It would add also a habitual deference towards the friend 
himself, which would render our manner pleasing to him 
and our deportment yielding and accommodating in all 
thiugs proper to be forborne or done. Thirdly, Con-^ 
scientiousness, ever on the watch, would proclaim the 
duty of making no unjust demands on the good nature of 
our friend, but of limiting our whole intercourse with him 
to an interchange of kindness, good offices, and recipro- 
cal affection. Intellect, acting along with these princi- 
ples, would point out, as an indispensable requisite to 
such an attachment, that the friend himself should be so 
far under the influence of the moral sentiments as to be 
able, in some degree, to satisfy them; for, if he were 
immoral, selfish, vainly ambitious, or, in short, under the 
habitual influence of the propensities, the sentiments could 
^iot love and respect him; they might pity him as un- 
fortunate, but loye him they could not, because this is 
impossible by the very laws of their constitution. 

Let us now attend to the degree in which such a 
friendship would gratify the lower propensities. In the 
first place, how would Adhesiveness exult and rejoice in 
such an attachment? It would be filled with delight, 
because, if the intellect were convinced that the friend 
habitually acknowledged the supremacy of the higher 
sentiments, Adhesiveness might pour forth all its ardor, 
and cling to its object with the closest bonds of affection. 
The friend would not encroach on us for evil, because 
his Benevolence and Justice would oppose this; he would 



MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 75 

not lay aside restraint, and break through the bonds of 
affection by undue familiarity, because Veneration would 
forbid this; he would not injure us in our name, person, 
or reputation, because Conscientiousness, Veneration, 
and Benevolence, all combined, would prevent such 
conduct. Here, then, Adhesiveness, freed from the fear 
of evil, of deceit, and of dishonor, because such a friend 
could not possibly fall into dishonor, would be at liberty 
to take its deepest draught of affectionate attachment; it 
would receive a gratification which it is impossible it 
could attain, while acting in combination with the purely 
selfish faculties. What delight, too, would such a friend- 
ship afford to Self-Esteem and Love of Approbation! 
There would be a legitimate approval of ourselves, aris- 
ing from a survey of pure motives, and just and benevo- 
lent actions. Love of Approbation also, would be grati- 
fied in the highest degree; for every act of affection, 
every expression of esteem, from such a friend, would 
be so purified by Benevolence, Veneration, and Consci- 
entiousness, that it would form the legitimate food on 
which Love of Approbation might feast and be satisfied; 
it would fear no hollowness beneath, no tattling in ab- 
sence, no secret smoothing over for the sake of mere 
effect, no envyings, and no jealousies. In short, friend- 
ship founded on the higher sentiments, as the ruling 
motives, would delight the mind with gladness and sun- 
shine, and gratify all the faculties, animal, moral, and 
intellectual, in harmony with each other. 

By this illustration, the reader will understand more 
clearly what I mean by the harmony of the faculties. 
The fashionable and commercial friendships of which I 
spoke, gratified the propensities of Adhesiveness, Love of 
Approbation, Self-Esteem, and Acquisitiveness, but left 
out, as fundamental principles, all the higher sentiments: 
— there was, therefore, in these instances, a want of 
harmonious gratification to the whole faculties, which 
want gave rise to a feeling of uncertainty, and of the ab 



76 MORAL SENTIMENTS AND INTELLECT. 

sence of full satisfaction ; it permitted only a mixed and 
imperfect enjoyment while the friendship lasted, and led 
to a feeling of painful disappointment, or of vanity and 
vexation, when a rupture occurred. The error, in such 
cases, consists in founding attachment on the lower facul- 
ties, seeing that they, by themselves, are not calculated 
to form a stable basis of affection ; instead of building it 
on them and the higher sentiments, which, acting togeth- 
er, afford a foundation for real, lasting, and satisfactory 
friendship. In complaining of the vanity and vexation 
of attachments, springing from the lower faculties exclu- 
sively, we are like men who should try to build a pyramid 
on its smaller end, and then speak of the unkindness of 
Providence, and lament the hardness of their fate, when 
it fell. A similar analysis of all other pleasures, founded 
on the animal propensities chiefly, would exhibit similar 
results. In short, happiness must be viewed by men as 
connected with the exercise of the three great classes of 
faculties, the moral sentiments and intellect exercising 
the directing and controlling sway, before it can be per< 
manently attained. 

Many men, on arriving at the close of life, complain 
of all its pursuits and enjoyments having proved vanity 
and vexation of spirit; but, to my mind, this is just an 
intimation that the plan of their lives has been selfish, or 
that they have missed the right method of doing disinter- 
ested good. I cannot conceive that the hour of death 
should cause the mind to feel all acts of kindness done to 
others, — all exercises of devotion performed in a right 
spirit, — all deeds of justice executed, — all rays of knowl- 
edge disseminated, during life,— as vain, unprofitable, 
and unconsoling, even at the moment of our leaving for 
ever this sublunary scene. On the contrary, such actions 
appear to me to be those which the mind would then 
rejoice to pass in review, as having afforded real enjoy- 
ment, and. left behind the greatest permanent good. 



FACULTIES OF MAN. 7^ 

SECTION V. 

THE FACULTIES OF MAN COMPARED WITH EXTERNAL OBJECTS 

Having considered man as el physical being, and briefly 
adverted to the adaptation of his constitution to the phy- 
sical laws of creation; having viewed him as an organized 
being, and traced the relations of his organic structure to 
his external circumstances; having taken a rapid survey 
of his faculties, as an animal, moral, and intellectual 
being, — with their uses and the forms of their abuses, — 
and having contrasted these faculties with each other, 
and discovered the supremacy of the Moral Sentiments 
and Intellect; I proceed to compare his faculties with 
external objects, in order to discover what provision has 
been made for their gratification. 

i. Amativeness is a feeling obviously necessary to the continuance 
of the species; and one which, properly regulated, is not offen 
sive to reason ; — opposite sexes exist to provide for its gratifi 
cation.* 

2. Philoprogenitiveness is given, — and offspring exist. 

3. Concentrativeness is conferred, — and the other faculties are its 

objects. 

4. Adhesiveness is given, — and country and friends exist. 

5. Combativeness is bestowed; — and physical and moral obstacles 

exist, to meet and subdue which courage is necessary. 

6. Destructiveness is given, — and man is constituted with a car- 

nivorous stomach, and animals to be killed and eaten, exist. 
Besides, the whole combustions of creation are in a State of 
decay and renovation. In the animal kingdom almost every 
species of creature is the prey of some other ; and the faculty 
of Destructiveness places the human mind in harmony with 
this order of creation. Destruction makes way for renovation ; 
the act of renoyation furnishes occasion for the activity of our 
other powers ; and activity is pleasure. That destruction is a 
natural institution is unquestionable. Not only has nature 
taught the spider to construct a web for the purpose of ensnar- 

* The nature and sphere of activity of the phrenological faculties, is explained 
it length in the • System of Phrenology,' to which I beg to refer. Here I cat 
only indicate general ideas. 

7* 



T8 FACULTIES OF MAN 

ing flies, that it may devour them, and constituted beasts of 
prey with carnivorous teeth ; but she has formed even plants, 
such as the Drosera, to catch and kill flies, and use them for 
food. Destructiveness serves also to give weight to indigna- 
tion, a most important defensive as well as vindicatory purpose. 
It is a check upon undue encroachment, and tends to constrain 
mankind to pay regard to the rights and feelings of each other. 
When properly regulated, it is an able assistant to justice. 

7. Constrtjctiveness is given, — and materials for constructing arti- 

ficial habitations, raiment, ships, and various other fabrics that 
add to the enjoyment of life, have been provided to give it 
scope. 

8. Acquisitiveness is bestowed, — and property exists capable cf 

being collected, preserved, and applied to use. 

9. Secretiveness is given, — and our faculties possess internal ac- 

tivity requiring to be restrained, until fit occasions and legiti- 
mate objects present themselves for'their gratification ; which 
restraint is rendered not only possible but agreeable, by the 
propensity in question. While we suppress and confine one 
feeling within the limits of our own consciousness, we exercise 
and gratify another in the very act of doing so. 

10. Self-Esteem is given, — and we have an individual existence 

and individual interests, as its objects. 

11. Love of Approbation is bestowed, — and we are surrounded by 

our fellow men, whose good opinion is the object of its desire. 

12. Cautiousness is given,. and it is admirably adapted to the nature 

of the external world. The human body is combustible, is lia- 
ble to be destroyed by violence, to suffer injury from extreme 
wet and winds, &c. ; and it is necessary for us to be habitually 
watchful to avoid these sources of calamity. Accordingly, 
Cautiousness is bestowed on us as an ever watchful sentinel 
constantly whispering < Take care.' There is ample scope for 
the legitimate and pleasurable exercise of all our faculties, 
without running into these eails, provided we know enough 
and are watchful enough ; and, therefore, Cautiousness is not 
overwhelmed with inevitable terrors. It serves merely as a 
warder to excite us to beware of sudden and unexpected dan- 
ger ; it keeps the other faculties at their post, by furnishing a 
stimulus to them to observe and to trace consequences that 
safety may be insured ; and, when these other faculties do then 
duty in proper form, the impulses of Cautiousness are not 
painful, but the reverse : they communicate a feeling of inter 
nal security and satisfaction, expressed by the motto Semper 
paratus: hence this faculty appears equally benevolent in ittf 
design, as the others which we have contemplated. 



COMPARED WITH EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 79 

Here, then, we perceive a beautiful provision made 
for supporting the activity of, and affording legitimate 
gratification to, the lower propensities. These powers 
are conferred on us clearly to support our animal nature, 
and to place us in harmony with the external objects of 
creation. So far from their being injurious or base in 
themselves, they possess the dignity of utility, and are 
sources of high enjoyment, when legitimately indulged. 
The phrenologist, therefore, would aever seek to extir- 
pate, or to weaken them too much He desires only to 
see their excesses controlled, and their exercise directed 
in accordance with the great institutions and designs of 
the Creator. 

The next class of faculties is that of the Moral Senti- 
ments proper to man. These are the following : 

Benevolence is given, — and sentient and intelligent beings are cre- 
ated, whose happiness we are able to increase, thereby affording 
it scope and delight. It is an error to imagine, that creatures 
in misery are the only objects of benevolence, and that it has 
no function but the excitement of pity. It is a wide-spreading 
fountain of generous feeling, desiring for its gratification not 
only the removal of pain, but the maintenance and augmenta- 
tion of positive enjoyme.nt; and the happier it can render its 
objects, the more complete are its satisfaction and delight. Its 
exercise, like that of all the other faculties, is a source of great 
pleasure to the individual himself; and nothing can be con- 
ceived more admirably adapted for affording it exercise, than 
the system of creation exhibited on earth. From the nature of 
the human faculties, each individual, without injuring himself, 
has it in his power to, confer prodigious benefits, or, in other 
words, to pour forth the most copious streams of benevolence 
on others, by legitimately gratifying their various feelings and 
intellectual faculties. 

Veneration. — The legitimate object of this faculty is the Divine 
Being; and I assume here the existence of God, as capable of 
demonstration. The very essay in which I am now engaged 
is an attempt at an exposition of some of his attributes, as men 
ifested in this world. If we shall find wisdom and benevolence 
in his works, unchangeableness, and no shadow of turning in 



e 



80 FACULTIES OF MAN 

his laws ; perfect harmony in each department of creation ; and 
shall discover that the evils which afflict us are much less the 
direct objects of his arrangements than the consequences of 
ignorant neglect of institutions calculated for our enjoyment, — 
then we shall acknowledge" in the Divine Being* an object 
whom we may love with our whole soul, reverence with the 
deepest emotions of veneration, and on whom Hope and Con 
scientiousness may repose with a perfect and unhesitating reli 
ance. The exercise of this sentiment is in itself a great positiv 
enjoyment, when the object is in harmony with our other facu. 
ties. Farther, its activity disposes us to yield obedience to the 
Creator's laws, the object of which is our own happiness ; and 
hence-its exercise, in the highest degree, is provided for. Rev- 
elation unfolds the character and intentions of God where 
reason cannot penetrate ; but its doctrines do not fall within 
the limits prescribed to this Essay. 

Hope is given, — and our understanding, by discovering the laws of 
nature, is enabled to penetrate into the future. This senti- 
ment, then, is gratified by the absolute reliance which Causali- 
ty convinces us that we may place on the stability and wisdom 
of the divine arrangements; its legitimate exercise, in* reference 
to this life, is to give us a vivifying faith, that good is attaina- 
ble if we use the proper means ; that while we suffer evil, we 
are undergoing a chastisement for having neglected the institu- 
tions of the Creator, the object of which punishment is to 
force us back into the right path. Revelation presents to Hope 
the certainty of a life to come ; and directs all our faculties in 
points of Faith. 

Ideality is bestowed, — and not only is external nature invested 
with the most exquisite loveliness, but a capacity for moral and 
intellectual refinement is given to us, by which we may rise in 
the scale of excellence, and at every step of our progress reap 
direct enjoyment from this sentiment. Its constant desire is 
for ' something more exquisite still.' In its own immediate 
impulses it is delightful, and external nature and our own fa- 
culties respond to its call. 

Wonder prompts us to admiration, and desires something new 
When we contemplate man endowed with intellect to discover 
a Deity and to comprehend his works, we cannot doubt of 
Wonder being provided with objects for its intensest exercise , 
and when we view him placed in a world where all old things 
are constantly passing away, and a system of renovation is 
incessantly proceeding, we see at once how vast a provision 
is made for the gratification of his desire of novelty, and how 
admirably it is calculated to impel his other faculties to action. 



COMPARED WITH EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 81 

Conscientiousness exists, — and it has a wide field of exercise in 
regulating the rights and interests of the individual in relation 
to other men, and to society. It is necessary to prove that all 
the divine institutions are founded in justice, to afford it full 
satisfaction. This is a point which many regard as involved 
in much obscurity : I shall endeavor in this Essay to lift the 
veil in part, for to me justice appears to flow through every 
divine institution. 

One difficulty, in regard to Conscientiousness, long appeared inex- 
plicable ; it was, how to reconcile with Benevolence the institu- 
tion by which this faculty visits us with remorse, after offences 
are actually committed, instead of arresting our hands by an 
irresistible veto before sinning, so as to save us from the per- 
petration altogether. The problem is solved by the principle, 
That happiness consists in the activity of our faculties, and 
that the arrangement of punishment after the offence, is far 
more conducive to activity than the opposite. For example ; 
if we desired to enjoy the highest gratification in exploring a 
new country, replete with the most exquisite beauties of scene- 
ry, and most captivating natural productions, and if we found 
in our path precipices that gratified Ideality in the highest de- 
gree, but which endangered life when, neglecting the law of 
gravitation, we advanced so near as to fall over them ; whether 
would it be most bountiful for Providence to send an invisible 
attendant with us, who, whenever we were about to approach 
the brink, should interpose a barrier, and fairly cut short our 
advance, without requiring us to bestow one thought upon the 
subject, and without our knowing when to expect it and when 
not ; — or to leave all open, but to confer on us, as he has done, 
eyes fitted to see the precipice, faculties to comprehend the law 
of gravitation, Cautiousness to make us fear the infringement 
of it, and then to leave us to enjoy the scene in perfect safety 
if we used these powers, but to fall over and suffer pain by 
bruises and death if we neglected to exercise them t It is obvi- 
ous that the latter arrangement would give far more scope to 
our various powers ; and if active faculties are the sources of 
pleasure, as will be shown in the next chapter, then it would 
contribute more to our enjoyment than the other. Now, Con- 
scientiousness punishing after the fact, is analogous in the 
moral world, to this arrangement, in the physical. If Intellect, 
Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, do their parts, 
they will give distinct intimations of disapprobation before com 
mission of offences, just as Cautiousness will give intimations 
of danger at the sight of the cliff; but if these are disregarded, 
and we fall over the moral precipice, remorse will follow as a 



82 



FACULTIES OF MAN 



punishment, just, as pain is the chastisement for tumbling over 
the physical brink. The object of both institutions is to permit 
and encourage the most vigorous and unrestrained exercise 
of our faculties, in accordance with the physical, moral, and 
intellectual laws of nature, and to punish us only when we 
transgress these limits. 

F rmness is bestowed,— and the other faculties of the mind are its 
objects. It supports and maintains their activity, and gives 
determination to our purposes. 

Imitation is bestowed,— and every where man is surrounded by 
beings and objects whose actions and appearances it may 
benefit him to copy. 

The next Class of Faculties is the Intellectual. 



The provisions in external nature for the gratification 
of the Senses of Hearing, Seeing, Smelling, Taste, and 
Touch, or Feeling, are so obvious, that it is unnecessary 
to enlarge upon them. 

Individuality and Eventuality, or the powers of observing things 
that exist, and occurrences, are given, and ' all the truths 
which Natural Philosophy teaches, depend upon matter of fact, 
and that is learned by observation and experiment, and never 
could be discovered by reasoning at all.' Here, then, is ample 
scope for the exercise of these powers. 

'"and the sciences of Geometry, Arith- 
metic, Algebra, Geography, Chemis- 
try, Botany, Mineralogy, Zoology, 
Anatomy, and various others, are the 
are bestowed, <j fields of their exercise. The first 
three sciences are almost the entire 
products of these faculties ; the others 
result chiefly from them, when appli- 
ed on external objects. 

r and these, aided by Constructiveness, 
Form, Locality, Ideality, and other 
» are given, ^ faculties, find scope in Painting, 
Sculpture, Poetry, Music, and the 
Tune, J pother fine arts. 

Language is given, — and our faculties inspire us with lively emo- 
tions and ideas, which we desire to communicate by its means 
to other individuals. 



Form, 

Size, 

Weight, 

Locality, 

Order, 

Number, 
Coloring, 

Time, 



COMPARED WITH EXTERNAL OBJECTS. 



83 



Comparison, 



w/AUSALITY, 



Wit, 



exist, 



' and these faculties, aided by Ir/iivid- 
uality, Form, Size, Weight, and others 
already enumerated, find ample gratifi- 
cation in Natural Philosophy, in Moral, 
Political and Intellectual Science, and 
their different branches. 



The general objects and affairs of life, together with 
our own feelings, conduct, and relations, are also the 
obiects of the knowing and reflecting faculties, and afford 
them vast opportunities for exercise. 



84 



CHAPTER III. 

UN THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, AND THE 
• CONDITIONS REQUISITE FOR MAINTAINING IT. 

Having now given a rapid sketch of the Constitution 
of man, and its relations to external objects, we are pre- 
pared to inquire into the sources of his happiness, and 
the conditions requisite for maintaining it. 

The first and most obvious circumstance which attracts 
attention, is, that all enjoyment must necessarily arise 
from activity of the various systems of which the human 
constitution is composed. The bones, muscles, nerves, 
digestive and respiratory organs, furnish pleasing sensa- 
tions, directly or indirectly, when exercised in confor- 
mity with their nature; and the external senses, and 
internal faculties, when, excited, supply the whole re- 
maining perceptions and emotions, which, when combin- 
ed, constitute life and rational existence. If these were 
habitually buried in sleep, or constitutionally inactive 
life, to all purposes of enjoyment, might as well be ex 
tinct: Existence would be reduced to mere vegetation, 
without consciousness, 

If, then, Wisdom and Benevolence have been employ- 
ed in constituting Man, we may expect the arrangements 
of creation, in regard to him, to be calculated, as a 
hading object, to excite his various powers, corporal and 
mental, to activity. This, accordingly, appears to me to 
De the case; and the fact may be illustrated by a few 
examples. A certain portion of nervous and muscular 
energy is infused by nature into the human body every 
twenty-four hours, which it is delightful to expend. To 



IN THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS. 85 

j^.ov^w iw its expenditure, the stomach has been consti- 
tuted so as to require regular supplies of food, which can 
be obtained only by nervous and muscular exertion: 
The body has been created destitute of covering, yet 
standing in need of protection from the elements of 
heaven; and nature has been so constituted, that rai- 
ment can be easily provided by moderate exercise of the 
menta. and corporal powers. It is delightful to repair 
exhausted nervous and muscular energy by wholesome 
aliment; and the digestive organs have been so consti- 
tuted, as to perform their functions by successive stages, 
and to afford us frequent opportunities of enjoying the 
pleasures of eating. In these arrangements, the design 
of supporting the various systems of the body in activity, 
for the enjoyment of the individual, is abundantly obvi- 
ous. A late writer justly remarks, that ' a person of 
feeble texture and indolent habits has the bone smooth, 
thin, and light; but nature, solicitous for our safety, and 
in a manner which we could not anticipate, combines with 
the powerful muscular frame a dense and perfect texture 
of bone, where every spine and tubercle is completely 
developed. ' ' As the structure of the parts is originally 
perfected by the action of the vessels, the function or 
operation of the part is made the stimulus to those ves- 
sels. The cuticle on the hand wears away like a glove , 
but the pressure stimulates the living surface to force 
successive layers of skin under that which is wearing, or, 

I as anatomists call it, desquamating; by which they mean, 
that the cuticle does not change at once, but comes off 
in squamae or scales.' - 

Directing our attention to the Mind, we discover that 
Individuality, and the other Perceptive Faculties, desire, 
as their means of enjoyment, to know existence, and to 
become acquainted with external objects; while the Re- 
flecting Faculties desire to know the dependences and 
relations of all objects and beings. ' There is some- 

i .hing,'savs <m eloquent writer, 'positively agreeable to 

8 G 



86 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, 

all men, to all, at least, whose nature is not most grovel- 
ling and base, in gaining knowledge for its own sake. 
When you see any thing for the first time, you at once 
derive some gratification from the sight being new; your 
attention is awakened, and you desire to know more 
about it. If it is a piece of workmanship, as an instru- 
ment, a machine of any kind, you wish to know how it is 
made; how it works; and what use it is of. If it is an 
animal, you desire to know where it comes from; how it 
lives; what are its dispositions, and, generally, its nature 
and habits. This desire is felt, too, without at all con 
sidering that the machine or the animal may ever be of 
the least use to yourself practically; for, in all proba- 
bility, you may never see them again. But you feel a 
curiosity to learn all about them, because they are new and 
unknown to you. You, accordingly, make inquiries; you 
feel a gratification in getting answers to your questions, 
that is, in receiving information, and in knowing more, — 
in being better informed than you were before. If you 
ever happen again to see the same instrument or animal, 
you find it agreeable to recollect having seen it before, 
and to think that you know something about it. If you 
see another instrument or animal, in some respects like, 
but differing in other "particulars, you find it pleasing to 
compare them together, and to note in what they agree, and 
in what they differ. Now, all this kind of gratification is 
of a pure and disinterested nature, and has no reference 
to any of the common purposes of life; yet it is a plea- 
sure — an enjoyment. You are nothing the richer for it; 
you do not gratify your palate, or any other bodily 
appetite; and yet it is so pleasing that you would give 
something out of your pocket to obtain it, and would 
forego some bodily enjoyment for its sake. The pleasure 
derived from science is exactly of the like nature, or 
rather it is the very same.*' This is a correct and forci- 

* Objects, Advantages, and Pleasures of Science, p. 1. 



AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 87 

ble exposition of the pleasures attendirig the active exer 
cise of our intellectual faculties. In the Introduction to 
this work, pages 7 and 8, I have given several illustra- 
tions of the manner in which the external world is 
adapted to the mental faculties of man, and of the extent 
to which it is calculated to maintain them in activity, and 
I need not repeat them here. 

Supposing the human faculties to have received their 
present constitution, two arrangements may be fancied 
as instituted for their gratification; 1st, Infusing into the 
intellectual powers at birth, intuitive knowledge of every 
object which they are fitted ever to comprehend; and 
directing every propensity and sentiment by an infallible 
instinct to its best mode and degree of gratification: Or, 
2dly, Constituting the intellectual faculties only as ca- 
pacities for gaining knowledge by exercise and applica- 
tion, and surrounding them with objects bearing such 
relations towards them, that, when observed and attended 
to, they shall afford them high gratification; and, when 
unobserved and neglected, they shall occasion them 
uneasiness and pain: — And giving to each propensity and 
sentiment a wide field of action, comprehending both use 
and abuse, and leaving the intellect to direct each to its 
proper objects, and to regulate its degrees of. indulgence. 
And the question occurs, Which of these modes would 
be most conducive to enjoyment? The general opinion 
will be in favor of the first; but the second appears to me 
to be preferable. If the first meal we had eaten had for 
ever prevented the recurrence of hunger, it is obvious 
that all the pleasures of satisfying a healthy appetite 
would then have been at an end; so that this apparent 
bounty would have greatly abridged our enjoyment. In 
like manner, if, our faculties being constituted as at 
present, intuitive directions had been impressed on "the 
propensities and sentiments, and intuitive knowledge had 
been communicated to the understanding, so that, when 
an hour old, we should have been morally, as capable 



88 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, 

of wise and virtuous conduct, and intellectually, as 
thoroughly acquainted with every object, quality, and 
relation, as we could ever become, all provision for the 
sustained activity of many of our faculties would have 
been done away with. When wealth is acquired, the 
miser's pleasure in it is diminished. He grasps after 
more with increasing avidity. He is supposed irrational 
in doing so, but he obeys the instinct of his nature. 
What he possesses, no longer satisfies Acquisitiveness; 
it is like food in the stomach, which gives pleasure in 
eating, and would give pain were it withdrawn, but 
which, when there, is attended with little positive sensa- 
tion. The miser's pleasure arises from the active state of 
Acquisitiveness, and only the pursuit and obtaining of 
new treasures can maintain that state. The same law is 
exemplified in the case of Love of Approbation. The 
gratification which it affords depends on its active state, 
and hence the necessity for new incense, and higher mount- 
ing in the scale of ambition, is constantly experienced by 
its victims. Napoleon, in exile, said, ' Let us live upon 
the past:' but he found this impossible; his predominant 
desires originated in Ambition and Self-Esteem, and the 
past did not stimulate them, or maintain them in constant 
activity. In like manner, no musician, artist, poet, or 
philosopher, would reckon himself happy, however exten- 
sive his attainments were, if informed, Now you must 
stop and live upon the past; and the reason is still the 
same. New ideas, and new emotions, excite and main- 
tain the faculties in activity; and activity is enjoyment. 

If these views be correct, the consequences of imbuing 
the mind with intuitive knowledge, and instinctive direc- 
tion as to conduct, would not have been unquestionably 
beneficial. The limits of our experience and acquire- 
ments would have been speedily reached; our first step 
would have been our last; every object would have be- 
come old and familiar; Hope would have had no object 
of expectation; Cautiousness no object of fear; Wonder 



AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 89 

no gratification in novelty: And monotony, insipidity, 
and mental satiety, would apparently have been the lot 
of Man. 

According to the view now advanced, creation, in its 
present form, is more wisely and benevolently adapted 
to our constitution than if instinctive direction and intui- 
tive instruction had been showered on the mind at b rth. 
By the actual arrangement, numerous noble faculties are 
bestowed; and their objects are presented; these objects 
are endowed with qualities fitted to benefit and delight 
us, when properly used, and to injure and punish us 
when misunderstood or misapplied^ but we are left to 
find out their qualities by the exercise of our faculties 
themselves. Provision is thus made for ceaseless activi- 
ty of the mental powers, and this constitutes delight. 
Wheat is produced by the earth, and adapted to the 
nutrition of the body; but it may be rendered more grate- 
ful to the organ of taste, more salubrious to the stomach, 
and more stimulating to the nervous and muscular sys- 
tems, by being stripped of its external skin, ground into 
flour, and baked into bread. Now, the Creator pre- 
arranged all these relations, when he endowed wheat 
with its properties, and the human body with its qualities 
and functions. In withholding congenital and intuitive 
knowledge of these qualities and mutual relations, but in 
bestowing faculties fitted to find them out; in rendering 
the exercise of these faculties agreeable; and in leaving 
man, in this condition, to proceed for himself, — he ap- 
pears to me to have conferred on him the highest boon. 
The earth produces also hemlock and foxglove; and, by 
the organic law those substances, if taken in certain 
moderate quantities, remove diseases; if in excess, they 
occasion death: but, again, man's observing faculties are 
fitted, when applied under the guidance of Cautiousness 
and Reflection, to make this discovery; and he is left to 
make . it in this way, or suffer the consequences of 
neglect 

8* * 



90 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, 

Water, when elevated in temperature, becomes steam, 
and steam expands with prodigious power; this power, 
confined by metal, and directed by intellect, is capable 
of being converted into the steam-engine, the most effi- 
cient, yet humble servant of man. All this was clearly 
pre-arranged by the Creator; and man's faculties were 
adapted to it: but still we see him left to observe and 
discover the qualities and relations of water for himself. 
This duty, however, must be acknowledged as benevo- 
lently imposed, the moment we discover that the Creatoi 
has made the very exercise of the faculties pleasurable, 
and arranged external qualities and relations so benefi- 
cially, that, when known, they may carry a double reward 
in adding by their positive influence to human gratifi- 
cation. 

The Knowing Faculties, as we have seen, observe the 
mere external qualities of bodies, and their simpler rela- 
tions. The Reflecting Faculties observe relations also, 
but of a higher. order. The former discover that the soil 
is clay or gravel; that it is tough or friable, that it is dry 
or wet, and that excess of water impedes vegetation; that 
in one season the crop is large, and in the next deficient. 
The reflecting faculties take cognizance of the causes of 
these phenomena. They discover the means by which 
wet soil may be rendered dry; clay may be pulverized; 
light soil may be invigorated; and all of them made more 
productive; also the relationship of particular soils to 
particular kinds of grain. The inhabitants of a countiy 
who exert their knowing faculties in observing the quali- 
ties of their soil, their reflecting faculties in discovering 
its capabilities and relations to water, lime, manures, anc 
the various species of grain, and who put forth their 
muscular and nervous energies in accordance with the 
dictates of these powers, receive a rich reward in a cli- 
mate improved in salubrity, in an abundant supply of 
food, besides much positive enjoyment attending the 
exercise of the powers themselves. Those communities, 



AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 9 J 

on the other •hand, who neglect to use their mental facul- 
ties, and muscular and nervous energies, are punished 
by ague, fever, rheumatism, and a variety of painful 
affections, arising from damp air; are stinted in food; 
and, in wet seasons, are brought to the very brink of 
starvation by total failure of their crops. This punish- 
ment is a benevolent admonition from the Creator, that 
they are neglecting a great duty, and omitting to enjoy 
a great pleasure ; and it will cease as soon as they have 
fairly redeemed the blessings lost by their negligence, 
and obeyed the laws of their-being. 

The winds and waves appear, at first sight, to present 
insurmountable obstacles to man leaving the island or 
continent on which he happens to be born, and to his 
holding intercourse with his fellows in distant climes: 
But, by observing the relations of water to timber, he is 
enabled to construct a ship; by observing the influence 
of the wind on a physical body placed in a fluid medium, 
he discovers the use of sails; and, finally, by the appli- 
cation of his faculties, he has found out the expansive 
quality of steam, and traced its relations until he has 
produced a machine that enables him almost to set the 
roaring tempest at defiance, and to sail straight to the 
stormy north, although its loudest and its fiercest blasts 
oppose. In these instances, we perceive external nature 
admirably adapted to support the aental faculties in 
habitual activity, and to reward u° Jbr the exercise of 
them. 

In surveying external nature nth this principle in 
view, many qualities of physic objects present clear 
indications of benevolent desi^r m$ which otherwise would 
be regarded as defects. The Creator obviously intended 
that man should discover and use coal-gas in illuminating 
dwelling-houses; and yet it emits an abominable odor. 
The bad smell, viewed ^ l >stractedly from its consequen- 
ces, would appear to bv n unfortunate quality of the gas; 
>ut when we rec* " Jiat gas is invisible, extremely 



92 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, 

subtile, and liable to escape, and also, when mixed in a 
certain proportion with atmospheric air, to explode, and 
that the nauseous and penetrating smell is like a voice 
attached to it proclaiming its escape and warning us, in 
ouder and louder tones, to attend to our safety by con- 
fining it, — it presents the aspect of wise and benevolent 
design. 

It is objected to this argument, that it involves an 
nconsistency. Ignorance, it is said, of the natural laws 
is necessary to happiness, in order that the faculties may 
obtain exercise in discovering them; — nevertheless hap- 
piness is impossible till these laws shall have been dis- 
covered and obeyed. Here, then, it is said ignorance is 
represented as at once essential to, and incompatible with, 
enjoyment. The same objection, however, applies to 
the constitution of the bee. Gathering honey is neces- 
sary to its enjoyment; yet it cannot subsist and be happy 
till it has gathered honey, and therefore that act is both 
essential to, and incompatible with, its gratification 
The fallacy lies in losing sight of the natural constitution 
both of the bee and of man. While the bee possesses 
instinctive tendencies to roam about the fields and flow- 
ery meadows, and to exert its energies in labor, it is 
obviously beneficial to it to be furnished with motives 
and opportunities for doing so; and so it is with man to 
obtain scope for his bodily and mental powers. Now, 
gathering knowledge is to the mind of man what gather- 
ing honey is to the bee. Apparently with the view of 
effectually prompting the bee to seek this pleasure, 
honey is made essential to its subsistence. In like 
manner, and probably with a similar design, knowledge 
is made indispensable to human enjoyment. Communi 
eating intuitive knowledge of the natural laws to man, 
while his present constitution continues, would be the -exact 
parallel of gorging the bee with honey in midsummer, 
when its energies are at their height. When the bee 
has completed its store, winter benumbs its powers, 



AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 93 

which resume their vigor only when its stock is exhaust- 
ed, and spring returns to afford them exercise. No 
torpor resembling that of winter seals up the faculties of 
the human race; but their ceaseless activity is amply 
provided for, because, 1st, The laws of nature, compared 
with the mind of any individual, ,are of boundless extent, 
so that every one may learn something new to the end of 
the longest life. 2dly, By the actual constitution of 
man, he must make use of his acquirements habitually, 
otherwise he will lose them. 3dly, Every individual of 
the race is born in utter igliorance, and starts from zero 
in the scale of knowledge, so that he has the laws to 
learn for himself. 

These circumstances remove the apparent inconsis- 
tency. If man had possessed intuitive knowledge of all 
nature, he could have had no scope for exercising his 
faculties in acquiring knowledge, in preserving it, or in 
communicating it. The infant would have been as wise 
as the most revered sage, and forgetfulness would have 
been necessarily excluded:** 

Those who object to these views, imagine that after 
the human race has acquired knowledge of all the natu- 
ral laws, if such a result be possible, they will be in the 
same condition as if they had been created ivith intuitive 
knowledge ; but this does not follow. Although the race 
should acquire the knowledge supposed, it is not an m- 
evitable consequence that each individual will necessarily 
enjoy it all; which, however, would follow from intuition. 
The entire soil of Britain belongs to the landed proprie- 
tors as a class; but each does not possess it all; and 
hence every one has opportunities for adding to his ter- 
ritories; with this advantage, however, in favor of know- 
ledge, that the acquisitions of one do not impoverish 
another. Farther, although the race should have learned 
all the # natural laws, their children would not intuitively 
inherit their ideas, and hence the activity of every one, 
as he appears on the stage, would be provided for. 



94 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS, 

whereas, by intuition, every child would be as wise as 
his grandfather, and parental protection, filial piety, and 
all the delights that spring from difference in knowledge 
between youth and age, would be excluded. 3d, By the 
actual state of man, using of acquirements is essential to 
the preservation as well as the enjoyment of them. By 
intuition, all knowledge would be habitually present to 
the mind without effort or consideration. On the whole, 
therefore, it appears that man's nature being what it is, 
the arrangement by which he is endowed with powers to 
acquire knowledge, but left to find it out for himself, is 
both wise and benevolent. 

It has been asked, ' But is there no pleasure in science 
but that of discovery? Is there none in using the know- 
ledge we have attained? Is there no pleasure in playing 
at chess after we know the moves?' In answer, I observe, 
that if we know beforehand all the moves that our 
antagonist intends to make and all our own, which must 
be the case if we know every thing by intuition, we shall 
have no pleasure. The pleasure really consists in dis- 
covering the intentions of our antagonist, and in calculat- 
ing the effects of our own play; a certain degree of 
ignorance of both of which is indispensable to gratifica- 
tion. In like manner, it is agreeable first to discover the 
natural laws, and then to study ■ the moves' that we 
ought to make, in consequence of knowing them. So 
mdch, then, for the sources of human happiness. 

In the second place, Tq reap enjoyment in the greatest 
quantity and to maintain it most permanently, the faculties 
must be gratified harmoniously : In other words, if, among 
the various powers, the supremacy belongs to the moral 
sentiments, then the aim of our habitual conduct must be 
the attainment of objects suited to gratify them. For 
example, in_ pursuing wealth or fame, as the leading 
object of existence, full gratification is not afforded to 
Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, and 
consequently complete satisfaction cannot be enjoyed , 



AND THE CONDITIONS FOR MAINTAINING IT. 95 

whereas, by seeking knowledge, and dedicating life to 
the welfare of mankind, and obedience to God, in our 
several vocations, these faculties will be gratified, and 
wealth, fame, health, and other advantages, will flow in 
their train, so that the whole mind will rejoice, and its 
delight will remain permanent. 

Thirdly, To place human happiness on a secure basis, 
the laws of external creation themselves must accord 
with the dictates of the moral sentiments, and intellect 
must be fitted to discover the nature and relations of 
both, and to direct the conduct in harmony with them. 

Much has been written about the extent of human 
ignorance; but we should discriminate between absolute 
incapacity to know, and mere want of information, arising 
from not having used this capacity to its full extent. In 
regard to the first, or our capacity to know, it appears 
probable that, in this world, we shall never know the 
essence, beginning, or end of things; because these are 
points which we have no faculties calculated to discover: 
But the same Creator who made the external world, con- 
stituted our faculties, and if we have sufficient data for 
inferring that his intention is, that we shall enjoy exist- 
ence here while preparing for the ulterior ends of our 
being; and if it be true'that we can be happy here only 
by becoming thoroughly conversant with those natural 
laws which, when observed, are pre-arranged to con- 
tribute to our enjoyment, and which, when violated, visit 
us with suffering, we may safely conclude that our mental 
capacities are wisely adapted to the attainment of these 
objects, whenever we shall do our own duty in bringing 
them to their highest condition of perfection, and in 
applying them in the best manner. 

Sir Isaac Newton observed, that all bodies were com- 
bustible which refracted the rays of light, except one, 
the diamond, which he found tt> possess this quality, but 
which he was not able, by any powers he possessed, to 
consume by burning. He did not conclude, however, 



fc> 



96 ON THE SOURCES OF HUMAN HAPPINESS. 

from this, that the diamond was an exception to the 
uniformity of nature. He inferred, that, as the same 
Creator had made the refracting bodies, which he was 
able to burn, and the diamond, and proceeded by uniform 
laws, the diamond also would, in all probability, be found 
to be combustible, and that the reason of its resisting 
his power was ignorance on his part of the proper way 
to produce its conflagration. A century afterwards, 
chemists made the diamond blaze with as much vivacity 
as Sir. Isaac Newton had done a wax-candle. Let us 
proceed, then, on an analogous principle. If the inten- 
tion of our Creator be, that we should enjoy existence 
while in this world, then He knew what was necessary ^to 
enable us to do so; and He will not be found to have 
failed in conferring on us powers fitted to accomplish 
his design, provided we do our duty in developing and 
applying them. The great motive to exertion is the con- 
viction, that increased knowledge will furnish us with 
increased means of happiness and well-doing, and with 
new proofs of benevolence and wisdom in the Great 
Architect of the Universe. 



97 



CHAPTER IV. 

APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO THE 
PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 

If a system of living and occupation were to be framed 
for human beings, founded on the exposition of their 
nature, which I have now given, it would be something 
like this. 

1st, So many hours a-day should be dedicated by every 
individual in health, to the exercise -of his nervous and 
muscular systems, in labor calculated to give scope to 
these functions. The reward of obeying this requisite of 
his nature would be health, and a joyous animal exist- 
ence; the punishment of neglect is disease, low spirits, 
and death. 

2dly, So many hours a-day should be spent in the sedu- 
lous employment of the knowing and reflecting faculties; 
in studying the qualities of external objects, and their 
relations; also the nature of animated beings, and their 
relations; not with the view of accumulating mere ab- 
stract and barren knowledge, but of enjoying the positive 
pleasure of mental activity, and of turning every discovery 
to account, as a means of increasing happiness, or allevi- 
ating misery. The leading object should always be, to 
find out the relationship of every object to our own na- 
ture, organic, animal, moral, and intellectual, and to keep 
that relationship habitually in mind, so as to render our 
acquirements directly^ gratifying to our various faculties 
The reward of this conduct -would be an incalculably 
great increase of pleasure, in the very act of acquiring 
knowledge of the real properties of external objects, to- 
gether with a great accession of power in reaping ulterior 
advantages, and avoiding disagreeable affections. 

9 



98 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO 

3dly, So many hours a-day ought to Fe devoted to the 
cultivation and gratification of our moral and religious 
sentiments; that is to say, in exercising these in harmony ^ 
with intellect, and especially in acquiring the habit of 
admiring, loving, and yielding obedience to the Creator 
and his institutions. This last object is of vast impor- 
tance. Intellect is barren of practical fruit, however rich 
it may be in knowledge, until it is fired and prompted to 
act by moral sentiment. In my view, knowledge by it- 
self is comparatively worthless and impotent, compared 
with what it becomes when vivified by elevated emotions. 
It is not enough that Intellect is informed; the moral 
faculties must simultaneously co-operate, in yielding obe- 
dience to the precepts which the intellect recognises to 
be true. As Creation is one great system of which God 
is the author and preserver, we may fairly presume that 
there must be harmony among all its parts, and between 
it and its Creator. The human mind is a portion of cre- 
ation, and its constitution must be included in this har- 
monious scheme. The grand object of the moral and 
intellectual faculties of man, therefore, ought to be, the 
study of God and of his works. Before philosophy can 
rise to its highest dignity, and shed on the human race its 
richest benefits, it must become religious; that is to say, 
its principles and their consequences must be viewed as 
proceeding directly from the Divine Being, and as a rev- 
elation of his will to the faculties of man, for the guidance 
of his conduct. Philosophy, while separated from the 
moral feelings, is felt by the people at large to be cold 
and barren. It may be calculated to interest individuals, 
possessing high intellectual endowments; but as the moral 
and religious sentiments greatly predominate in energy 
over the intellectual powers, in the mass of mankind, it . 
fails to interest them. On the other hand, before natural 
religion can appear in all its might and glory, it must be- 
come philosophical. Its foundations must be laid in the 
system of creation; its authority must be deduced from 



THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 99 

the principles of that system; and its applications must be 
enforced by a demonstration of the power of Providence 
operating in enforcing the execution of its. dictates. 
While reason and religion are at variance, both are ob- 
structed in producing their full beneficial effects. God 
has placed harmony between them, and it is only human 
imperfection and ignorance that introduce discord. One 
way of cultivating the sentiments would be for men to 
meet and act together, on the fixed principles which I am 
now endeavoring to unfold, and to exercise on each other 
in mutual instruction, and in united adoration of the great 
and glorious Creator, the several faculties of Benevo- 
lence, Veneration, Hope, Ideality, Wonder, and Justice. 
The reward of acting in this manner would be a commu- 
nication of direct and intense pleasure to each other; for 
I refer to every individual who has ever had the good for- 
tune to pass a day or an hour with a really benevolent, 
pious, honest, and intellectual man, whose soul swelled 
with adoration of his Creator, whose intellect was replen- 
ished with knowledge of his works, and whose whole 
mind was instinct with sympathy for human happiness, 
whether such a day did not afford him the most pure, el- 
evated, and lasting gratification he ever enjoyed. Such 
an exercise, besides, would invigorate the whole moral 
and intellectual powers, and fit them to discover and obey 
the divine institutions. 

Phrenology is highly conducive to this enjoyment of 
our moral and intellectual nature. No faculty is bad, but, 
on the contrary, each has a legitimate sphere of action, 
and, when properly gratified, is a fountain of pleasure; 
in short, man possesses no feeling, of the right exercise 
of which an enlightened and ingenuous mind need be 
ashamed. A party of thorough practical phrenologists, 
therefore, meets in the perfect knowledge of each other's 
qualities; they respect these as the gifts of the Creator, 
and their great object is to derive the utmost pleasure 
from their legitimate use, ano! to avoid every approxima- 



100 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO 

tion to abuse of them. The distinctions of country and 
education are broken down by unity of principle; the 
chilling restraints of Cautiousness, Self-Esteem, Secre- 
tiveness, and Love of Approbation, which stand as bar- 
riers of eternal ice between human beings in the ordinary 
intercourse of society, are gently removed; the directing 
sway is committed to Benevolence, Veneration, Consci- 
entiousness, and Intellect; and then the higher principles 
of the mind operate with a delightful vivacity unknown to 
persons unacquainted with the qualities of human nature 

Intellect also ought to be regularly exercise**! in arts, 
science, philosophy, and observation. 

I have said nothing of dedicating hours to the direct 
gratification of .the animal powers; not that they should 
not be exercised, but that full scope for their activity will 
be included in the employments already mentioned. In 
muscular exercises, Combativeness, Destructiveness, 
Constructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, and Love 
of Approbation, may all be gratified. In contending with 
and sui mounting physical and moral difficulties, Com- 
bativeness and Destructiveness obtain vent; in working 
at a mechanical employment, requiring the exertion of 
strength, these two faculties, and also Constructiveness 
and Acquisitiveness, will be exercised; in emulation who 
shaft accomplish most good, Self-Esteem and Love of 
Approbation will obtain scope. In the exercise of the 
mora} faculties, several of these, and others of the animal 
propensities are employed; Amativeness, Philoprogeni 
tiveness, and Adhesiveness, for example, acting under 
the guidance of Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientious- 
ness, ideality, and Intellect, receive direct enjoyment in 
the domestic circle. From proper direction also, and 
from tne superior delicacy and refinement imparted to 
them by the higher powers, they do not infringe the 
moral law, and leave no sting or repentance in the mind. 

Finally, a certain portion of time would require to be 
dedicate'd to taking of food and sleep. 



THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 101 

AH systems hitherto practised have been deficient in 
providing for one or more of these branches of enjoy- 
ment. In the community at Orbiston, formed on Mr. 
Owen's principles, music, dancing, and theatrical enter- 
tainments were provided; but the people soon tired of 
these. They had not corresponding moral and intellec- 
tual instruction. The novelty excited them, but there 
was nothing substantial behind. In common society, 
very little either of rational instruction or amusement is 
provided. The neglect of innocent amusement is a great 
error. 

If there be truth in these views, they will throw some 
light on two important questions, that have puzzled phi- 
losophers in regard to the progress of human improve- 
ment. The first is, Why should man have existed so 
long, and made so small an advance in the road to happi- 
j ness? It is obvious that the very scheme of creation 
which I have described, implies that man is a progressive 
being; and progression necessarily supposes lower and 
higher conditions of attainment and enjoyment. While 
men are ignorant, there is great individual suffering. 
This distresses sensitive minds, and seems inexplicable: 
they cannot conceive how improvement should so slowly 
advance. I confess myself incapable of affording any^ 
philosophical explanation why man should have been so 
constituted; neither can I give a reason why the whole 
earth was not made temperate and productive, in place of 
being partially covered with regions of barren sand and 
eternal snow. The Creator alone can explain these dif- 
ficulties. When the inhabitants of Britain wore the skins 
of animals, and lived in huts, we may presume that, in 
rigorous winters, many of them suffered severe priva- 
tions, and that some would perish from cold. If there 
had been among the sufferers a gifted- philosopher, who 
observed the talents that were inherent in the people, al- 
though then latent, and who, in consequence, foresaw the 
splendid palaces and warm fabrics with which their de~ 

9* H 



102 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO 

scendaLtfc would one day adorn this island, he might well 
have been led to deplore the slow progress of improve- 
ment, and been grieved at the prevalence of so much in- 
termediate misery. Yet, the explanation that man is a 
progressive being is all that philosophy can offer; and if 
this satisfy us as to the past, it must be equally satisfac- 
tory in regard to the present and the future. This dif- 
ficulty is eloquently adverted to by Dr. Chalmers in his 
Bridgew*;ter Treatise. cc We might not know the reason," 
says he, iC why, in the moral world, so many ages of 
darkness and depravity should have been permitted to 
pass bv . any more than we know the reason why, in the 
natural world, the trees of a forest, instead of starting all 
at once into the full efflorescence and stateliness of their 
manhood have to make their slow and laborious advance- 
ment to maturity, cradled in storms, and alternately 
drooping or expanding with the vicissitudes of the sea- 
sons. But though unable to scan all the cycles either of 
the moral or natural economy, yet we may recognise 
such influences at work, as when multiplied and devel- 
oped to the uttermost, are abundantly capable of regener- 
ating the world. One of the likeliest of these influences 
is the power of education, to the perfecting of which so 
many minds are earnestly directed at this moment, and 
^for the general acceptance of which in society, we have 
a guarantee in the strongest affections and fondest wishes 
of the fathers and mothers of families." (Vol. i. p. 186 ) 
Although, therefore, we cannot explain why Man was 
constituted a progressive being, and why such a being 
advances slowly, the principles of this Essay show that 
there is at least an admirable adaptation of his faculties 
to his condition. If I am right in the fundamental prop- 
osition, that activity in the faculties is synonymous with 
enjoyment of existence, — it follows that it would have 
been less wise and less benevolent towards man, consti- 
tuted as he is, to have communicated to him intuitively 
perfect knowledge, thereby leaving his mental powers 






THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 103 

with diminished motives to activity, than to bestow on him 
faculties endowed with high susceptibility of action, and 
to surround him with scenes, objects, circumstances, and 
relations, calculated to maintain them in ceaseless excite- 
ment; although this latter arrangement necessarily sub- 
jects him to suffering while ignorant, and renders his 
first ascent in the scale of improvement difficult and slow. 
It is interesting to observe, that, according to this view, 
although the first pair of the human race had been cre- 
ated with powerful and well balanced faculties, but of the 
same nature as at present; if they were not also intui- 
tively inspired with knowledge of the whole creation, and 
its relations, their first movements as individuals would 
have been retrograde; that is, as individuals, they would, 
through pure want of information, have infringed many 
natural laws, and suffered evil; while, as parts of the race, 
they would have been decidedly advancing; for every 
pang they suffered would have led them to a new step in 
knowledge, and prompted them to advance towards a 
much higher condition than that which they at first occu- 
pied. According to the hypothesis now presented, not 
only is man really benefited by the arrangement which 
leaves him to discover the natural laws for himself, al- 
though, during the period of his ignorance, he suffers 
much evil from want of acquaintance with them; but his 
progress towards knowledge and happiness must, from the 
very extent of his experience, be actually greater than 
can at present be conceived. Its extent will become 
more obvious, and his experience itself more valuable, 
after he has obtained a view of the real theory of his 
constitution. He will find that past miseries have at 
least exhausted countless errors, and he will know how 
to avoid thousands of paths that lead to pain: in short, he 
will then discover that errors in conduct resemble errors 
ih philosophy, in this, that they give additional impor- 
tance and practicability to truth, by the demonstration 
which they afford of the evils attending departures from 



»04 APPLICATION OP THE NATURAL LAWS TO 

its dictates. The grand sources of human suffering at 
present arise from bodily disease and mental anxiety, 
and, in the next chapter, these will be traced to infringe- 
ment, through ignorance or otherwise, of physical, organ- 
ic, moral, or intellectual laws, which, when expounded, 
appear in themselves calculated to promote the happiness 
of the race. It may be supposed that, according to this 
view, as knowledge accumulates, enjoyment will de- 
crease; but ample provision is made against this event, 
by withholding intuition from each generation as it ap- 
pears on the stage. Each successive age must acquire 
knowledge for itself; and, provided ideas are new, and 
suited to the faculties, the pleasure of acquiring them 
from instructers, is only second to that of discovering 
them for ourselves; and, probably, countless ages may 
elapse before all the facts and relations of nature shall 
have been explored, and the possibility of discovery 
exhausted. If the universe be infinite, knowledge can 
never be complete. 

The second question is, Has man really advanced in 
happiness, in proportion to hi3 increase in knowledge? 
We are apt tc ' Certain erroneous notions of the plea- 
sures enjoyed bj past ages. Fabulists have represented 
them as peaceful, innocent, and gay; but if we look nar- 
rowly into the conditions of the savage and barbarian of 
the present day, and recollect that these are the states of 
all individuals previous to the acquisition of knowledge, 
we shall not much or long regret the pretended diminu- 
tion of enjoyment by civilization. Phrenology renders 
the superiority of the latter condition certain, by showing 
it to be a law of nature, that, until the intellect is exten- 
sively informed, and the moral sentiments assiduously 
exercised, the animal propensities bear the predominant 
sway; and that wherever they are supreme, misery is an 
inevitable concomitant. Indeed, the answer to the ob- 
jection that happiness has not increased with knowledge, 
appears to me to be found in the fact, that until phrenolo- 



THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 10b 

gy was discovered, the nature of man was not scientifi- 
cally known; and, in consequence, that not one of his 
institutions, civil or domestic, Was correctly founded on 
the principle of the supremacy of the moral sentiments, 
or in accordance with the other laws of his constitution. 
Owing to the same cause, also, much of his knowledge 
has necessarily remained partial, and inapplicable to 
use; but after this science shall have been appreciated 
and applied, clouds of darkness, accumulated through 
long ages that are past, may be expected to roll away, 
as if touched by the rays of the meridian sun, and with 
them many of the miseries that attend total ignorance or 
imperfect information.* 

It ought also to be kept constantly in remembrance, 
that man is a social being, and that the precept ' love 
your neighbor as yourself 5 is imprinted in his constitu- 
tion. That is to say, so mttch of the happiness of each 
individual depends on the habits, practices and opinions 
of the society in which he lives, that he cannot reap the 
full benefits of his own advancement, until similar prin- 
ciples shall have been embraced and realized in practice 
by his fellow men. This renders it his interest, as it is 
his duty, to communicate his knowledge to them, and to 
carry them forward in the career of improvement. At 
this moment, there are thousands of persons who feel 
their enjoyments, physical, moral and intellectual, im- 
paired and abridged by the mass of ignorance and preju- 
| dice which every where surrounds them. They are men 
living before their age, and whom the world neither 
understands nor appreciates. Let them not, however, 

* Readers who are strangers to Phrenology, and the evidence on 
which it rests, may regard the observations in the text as extravagant 
and enthusiastic; but I respectfully remind them, that, while they 
judge in comparative ignorance, it has been my endeavor to subject 
it to the severest scrutiny. Having found its proofs irrefragable, and 
being convinced of its importance, I solicit their indulgence in 
speaking of it as it appears to my own mind. 



106 APPLICATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS TO 

repine or despair; but dedicate their best efforts to com- 
municating the truths which have opened up to them- 
selves the prospect of happiness, and they shall not be 
disappointed. The law of our constitution which has 
established the supremacy of the moral sentiments, ren- 
ders it impossible for individuals to attain the full enjoy- 
ment of their rational nature, until they have rendered 
their fellow men virtuous and happy; and in the truth 
and power of this principle, the ignorant and the wretch- 
ed have a better guarantee for being raised in their .con- 
dition by the efforts of their more fortunate brethren, 
than in the establishment of poor laws or other legislative 
enactments. If all ranks of the people were taught the 
philosophy which I am now advocating, and if, in so far 
as it is true, it were enforced by their religious instruc- 
tors as the will of the Creator communicated to man, 
through His natural institutions, the progress of general 
improvement would probably be accelerated. 

If the notions now advocated shall ever prevail, it will 
be seen that the experience of past ages affords no suffi- 
cient reason for limiting our estimate of man's capabili- 
ties of civilization; — he is yet only in the infancy of his 
existence. In the introduction I mentioned the long and 
gradual preparation of the globe for man; and that he 
appears to be destined to advance only by stages to the 
highest condition of his moral and intellectual nature. 
At present he is obviously only in the beginning of his 
career. Although a knowledge of external nature, and 
of himself, are indispensable to his advancement to his 
true station as a rational being, yet four hundred years 
have not elapsed since the arts of printing and engraving 
were invented, without which, knowledge could not be 
disseminated through the mass of mankind; and, up to 
the present hour, the art of reading is by no means 
general over the world — so that, even now, the means of 
calling man's rational nature into activity, although dis 
covered, are but very imperfectly applied. It is only 



THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE. 107 

five or six centuries since the mariner's compass was 
known in Europe, without which even philosophers could 
not ascertain the most common facts regarding the size, 
form, and productions of the earth. It is only three 
hundred and forty years since one-half of the habitable 
globe, America, became known to the other half; and 
considerable portions of it are yet unknown even to the 
best informed inquirers. It is little more than two hun- 
dren years since the true theory of the circulation of the 
blood was discovered ; previous to which it was impossi- 
ble even for physicians to form any correct idea of the 
uses of many of man's corporeal organs, and of their 
lelations to external nature. It is only between forty 
and fifty years since the true functions of the brain and 
nervous system were discovered; before which we pos- 
sessed no adequate means of becoming acquainted with 
our mental constitution, and its adaptation to external 
circumstances and beings. It is only fifty-seven years 
since the study of chemistry, or of the physical elements 
of the globe, was put into a philosophical condition by 
Dr. Priestley's discovery of oxygen; and hydrogen was 
discovered so lately as 1766, or sixty-eight years ago. 
Before that time, people in general were comparatively 
ignorant of the qualities and relations of the most im- 
portant material agents with which they were surrounded. 
At present this knowledge is still in its infancy, as will 
Appear from an enumeration of the dates of several other 
/mportant discoveries. Electricity was discovered in 
1728, galvanism in 1794, gas-light about 1798; and 
steam-boats, steam-looms, and the safety-lamp, in our 
own day. 

It is only of late years that the study of geology has 
been seriously begun; without which we could not know 
the past changes in the physical structure of the globe, 
a matter of much importance as an element in judging 
of our present position in the world's progress. This 
science also is in its infancy. An inconceivable extent 



108 THE PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF LIFE 

»f territory remains to be explored, from the examination 
of which the most interesting and instructive inferences 
will probably present themselves. 

The mechanical sciences are at this moment in full 
play, putting forth vigorous shoots, and giving the strong- 
est indications of youth, and none of decay. 

The sciences of morals and of government are still in 
he crudest condition. 

In consequence, therefore, of this profound ignorance, 
man, in all ages, has been directed in his pursuits, by 
the mere impulse of his strongest propensities, formerly 
to war and conquest, and now to accumulating wealth, 
without having framed his habits and institutions in con- 
formity with correct and enlightened views of his own 
nature, and its real interests and wants. Up to the pre- 
sent day the mass of the people in every nation have 
remained essentially ignorant, the tools of interested 
leaders, or the creatures of their own blind impulses, 
unfavorably situated for the development of their rational 
nature. They, constituting the great majority, of neces- 
sity influence the condition of the rest: — But at last, the 
arts and sciences seem to be tending towards abridging 
human labor, so as to force leisure on the mass of the 
people: while the elements of useful knowledge are so 
rapidly increasing; the capacity of the operatives for 
instruction is so generally recognised; and the means of 
communicating it are so powerful and abundant; that a 
new era may fairly be considered as having commenced. 

Owing to the want of a practical philosophy of human 
nature, multitudes of amiable and talented individuals are 
at present anxious only for preservation of the attain- 
ments which society possesses; and dread retrogression 
in the future. If the views now expounded be correct, 
this race of moralists and politicians will in time become 
extinct, because progression being the law of our nature, 
the proper education of the people will render the desire 
i br improvement universal. 






109 



CHAPTER V 

TO WHAT EXTENT ARE THE MISER ES OF MANKIND 
REFERABLE TO INFRINGEMENTS OF THE LAWS OF 
NATURE 1 i 

In the present chapter, I propose to inquire into some 
of the evils that have afflicted the human race; also 
whether they have proceeded from abuses of institutions 
benevolent and wise in themselves, and calculated, when 
observed, to promote the happiness of man, or from a 
constitution of nature so defective that he cannot supply 
its imperfections, or so vicious that he can neither rectify 
nor improve its qualities. The following extract from 
the journal of John Locke, contains a forcible statement 
of the principle which I intend to illustrate in this chap- 
ter: 'Though justice be also a perfection which we must 
necessarily ascribe to the Supreme Being, yet we cannot 
suppose the exercise of it should extend farther than his 
goodness has need of it for the preservation of his crea- 
tures in the order and beauty of the state that he has 
placed each of them in; for since our actions cannot 
reach unto him, or bring him any profit or damage, the 
punishments he inflicts on any of his creatures, i. e. the 
misery or destruction he brings upon them, can be 
nothing'else but to preserve the greater or more consid- 
erable part, and so being only for preservation, his justice 
is nothing but a branch of his goodness, which is fain by 
severity to restrain the irregular and destructive parts 
from doing harm. 5 — Lord King's Life of Locke, p. 122. 

10 



CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 11Q. 



SECTION I. 

CALAMITIES ARISING FROM INFRINGEMENTS OF THE 
PHYSICAL LAWS. 

The proper way of viewing the Creator's institutions, 
is to look, first, to their uses, and to the advantages that 
flow from using them aright; and, secondly, to their 
abuses, and the evils that proceed from this source. 

In Chapter II, some of the benefits conferred on man, 
by the law of gravitation, are enumerated; and I may 
here advert to some of the evils originating from that 
law, when human conduct is in opposition to it. For 
example, men are liable to fall from horses, carriages, 
stairs, precipices, roofs, chimneys, ladders, masts, or to 
slip in the street; — by which accidents life is often sud- 
denly cut short, or rendered miserable from lameness 
and pain; and the question arises, Is human nature pro- 
vided with any means of protection against these evils, at 
all equal to their frequency and extent? 

The lower animals are equally subject to this law; 
and the Creator has bestowed on them external senses, 
nerves, muscles, bones, an instinctive sense of equilibrium, 
the sense of danger, or cautiousness, and other faculties, 
to place them in accordance with it. These appear to 
afford sufficient protection to animals* placed in all ordi- 
nary circumstances; for we very rarely discover any of 
them, in their natural condition, killed or mutilated by 
accidents referable to gravitation. Where their mode 
of life exposes them to extraordinary danger from this 
law, they are provided with additional securities. The 
monkey, which climbs trees, enjoys great muscular energy 
in its legs, claws, and tail, far surpassing, in proportion 
to its gravitating tendency, or its bulk and weight, what 
is bestowed on the legs and arms of man; so that, by 
means of them, it springs from branch to branch, in 
nearly complete security against the law in question 



INFRINGEMENTS OF THE PHYSICAL LAWS. Ill 

The goat, which browses on the brinks of precipices, has 
received a hoof and legs, that give precision and stability 
to its steps. Birds, which are destined to sleep on 
branches of trees, are provided with a muscle passing 
over the joints of each leg, and stretching down to the 
foot, which, being pressed by their weight, produces a 
proportionate contraction of their claws, so as to make 
them cling the faster, the greater their liability to fall. 
The fly, which walks and sleeps on perpendicular walls, 
and the ceilings of rooms, has a hollow in its foot, from 
which it expels the air, and the pressure of the atmos- 
phere on the outside of the foot holds it fast to the 
object on which the inside is placed. The walrus, or sea- 
horse, which is destined to climb up the sides of ice-hills, 
is provided with a similar apparatus The camel, whose 
native region is the sandy deserts of the torrid zone, has 
broad spreading hoofs to support it on the loose soil 
Fishes are furnished with air-bladders, by dilating and 
contracting of which they can accommodate themselves 
with perfect precision to the law of gravitation. 

In these instances, the lower animals, under the sole 
guidance of their instincts, appear to be placed admirably 
in harmony with gravitation, and guaranteed against its 
infringement. Is Man, then, less an object of love with 
the Creator? Is he alone left exposed to the evils that 
spring inevitably from its neglect? His means of pro- 
tection are different, but when understood and applied, 
they will probably be found not less complete. Man, as 
well as the lower animals, has received bones, muscles, 
nerves, an instinct of equilibrium # , and faculties of Cau- 
tiousness; but not in equal perfection, in proportion to 
his figure, size, and weight, with those bestowed on 
them: — The difference, however, is far more than com- 
pensated by other faculties, particularly those of Con- 
Btructiveness and Reflection, in which he greatly sur- 

* Vide Essay on Weight, Phren. Journ. vol. ii. p. 412. 



112 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

passes them. Keeping in view that the external world 
in regard to man, is arranged on the principle of 
supremacy in the moral Sentiments and intellect, we 
shall probably find, that the calamities suffered by him 
from the law of gravitation, are referable to predominance 
of the animal propensities, or to neglect of proper ex- 
ercise of his intellectual powers. For example, when 
coaches break down, ships sink, or men fall from ladders, 
how generally may the cause be traced to decay in the 
vehicle, the vessel, or ladder, which a predominating 
Acquisitiveness alone prevented from being repaired; or 
when men fall from houses, scaffolds, or slip on the 
street, how frequently should we find their muscular, 
nervous, and mental energies, impaired by preceding 
debaucheries; in other words, by predominance of the 
animal faculties, which for the time diminished their 
natural means of accommodating themselves to the law 
from which they suffer. Or, again, the slater, in using a 
ladder, assists himself by Constructiveness and Reflec 
tion; but, in walking along the ridge of a house, or 
standing on a chimney, he takes no aid from these facul- 
ties; he trusts to the mere instinctive power of equili- 
brium, in which he is inferior to the lower animals, and, 
in so doing, clearly violates the law of his nature, that 
requires him to use reflection, where instinct is deficient. 
Causality and Constructiveness could invent means, by 
which, if he slipped from a roof or chimney, his fall might 
be arrested. A small chain, for instance, attached by 
one end to a girdle round his body, and the other end 
fastened by a hook and eye to the roof, might leave him 
at liberty to move, and break his fall, in case he slipped. 
How frequently, too, do these accidents happen, after 
disturbance of the faculties and corporeal functions by 
intoxication? 

The objection will probably occur, that in the gross 
condition in which the mental powers exist, the great 
body of mankind are incapable of exerting habitually that 



INFRINGEMENTS OP THE PHYSICAL LAWS. 1 13 

degree of moral and intellectual energy, which is indis- 
pensable to observance of the natural laws; and that, 
therefore, they are, in point of fact, less fortunate than 
the lower animals. I admit that, at present, this repre- 
sentation is to a considerable extent just; but nowhere 
do I perceive the human mind instructed, and its powers 
exercised, in a degree at all approaching to their limits 
Let any person recollect how much greater capacity for 
enjoyment and security from danger he has experienced, 
at a particular time, when his whole mind was filled with, 
and excited by, some mighty interest, not only allied to, 
but founded in, morality and intellect, than in that lan- 
guid condition which accompanies the absence of elevat- 
ed and ennobling emotions; and he may form some idea 
of what man will be capable of reaching, when his 
powers shall have been cultivated to the extent of their 
capacity. At the present moment, no class of society is 
systematically instructed in the constitution of their own 
minds and bodies, in the relations of these to external 
objects, in the nature of these objects, in the natural su- 
premacy of the moral sentiments, in the principle that 
activity of the faculties is the only source of pleasure, 
and that the higher the powers, the more intense the 
delight; and, if such views be to the mind what light is 
to the eyes, air to the lungs, and food to the stomach, 
there is no wonder that a mass of inert mentality, if I may 
use such a word, should every where exist around us, 
and that countless evils should spring from its continu- 
ance in this condition. If active moral and intellectual 
faculties are the natural fountains of enjoyment, and the 
external world is created with reference to this state; it 
is as obvious that misery must result from animal supre- 
macy and intellectual torpidity, as that flame, which is 
constituted to burn only when supplied with oxygen, 
must inevitably become extinct, when exposed to car- 
bonic acid gas. Finally, if the arrangement by which 
man is left to discover and obey the laws of his ow» 

10* 



114 CALAMIT, IS ARISING FROM 

nature, and of the physical world, be more conducive to 
activity, than intuitive knowledge, the calamities now 
contemplated appear to be instituted to force him to his 
duty; and his duty, when understood, will constitute his 
delight. 

While, therefore, we lament the fate of individual 
victims to the law of gravitation, we cannot condemn 
that law itself. If it were suspended, to save men from 
the effects of negligence, not only would the proud 
creations of human skill totter to their base, and the 
human body rise from the earth, and hang midway in the 
air; but our highest enjoyments would be terminated, 
and our faculties become positively useless, by being de- 
prived of their field of exertion. Causality, for instance, 
teacher that similar causes will always, cceteris paribus, 
produce similar effects; and, if the physical laws were 
suspended or varied, so as to accommodate themselves to 
man's negligence or folly, it is obvious that this faculty 
would be without an object*, and that no definite course 
of action could be entered upon with confidence in the 
result. If, then, this view of the constitution of nature 
were kept steadily in view, the occurrence of one acci- 
dent of this kind would stimulate reflection to discover 
means to prevent others. 

Similar illustrations and commentaries might be given, 
in regard to the other physical laws to which man is 
subject; but the object of the present Essay being merely 
to evolve principles, I confine myself to gravitation, as 
the most obvious and best understood. 

I do not mean to say, that, by the mere exercise of 
intellect, man may absolutely guarantee himself against 
all accidents; but only that the more ignorant and care- 
less he is, the more he will suffer, and the more intel- 
ligent and vigilant, the less; and that I can perceive no 
limits to this rule! The law of most civilized countries 
recognises this principle, and subjects owners of ships, 
coaches, and other vehicles, in damages arising from 



INFRINGEMENTS OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 1 lo 

gross infringements of the physical laws. It is unques- 
tionable that the enforcement of this liability has given 
increased security to travellers in no trifling degree. 



SECTION II. 

ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND FROM INFRINGEMENT 
OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 

It is a very common error, not only among philoso- 
phers, but among practical men, to imagine that the 
feelings of the mind are communicated to it through the 
medium of the intellect; and, in particular, that if no 
indelicate objects reach the eyes, or expressions penetrate 
the ears, perfect purity will necessarily reign within the 
soul; and, carrying this mistake into practice, they are 
prone to object to all discussion of the subjects treated 
of under the ' Organic Laws,' in works designed for 
general use. But their principle of reasoning is falla- 
cious, and the practical result has been highly detrimental 
to society. The feelings have existence and activity 
distinct from the intellect; they spur it on to obtain their 
own gratification; and it may become either their guide 
or slave, according as it is, or is not, enlightened con- 
cerning their constitution and objects, and the laws of 
nature to which they are subjected. The most profound 
philosophers have inculcated this doctrine; and, by phre- 
nological observation, it is demonstratively established. 
The organs of the feelings are distinct from those of the 
intellectual faculties; they are larger; and, as each 
faculty, cctteris paribus, acts with a power proportionate 
to the size of its organs, the feelings are obviously the 
active or impelling powers. The cerebellum, or organ 
of Amativeness, is the largest of the whole mental or- 
gans; and, being endowed with natural activity, it fills 
the mind spontaneously with emotions and suggestions 
which may be directed, controlled, and resisted, in out- 



116 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

ward manifestation, by intellect and moral sentiment, but 
which cannot be prevented from arising, or eradicated 
after they exist. The whole question, therefore, resolves 
itself into this, Whether it is most beneficial to enlighten 
and direct that feeling, or (under the influence of an 
error in philosophy, and false delicacy founded on it), to 
permit it to riot in all the fierceness of a blind animal 
instinct, withdrawn from the eye of reason, but not there- 
by deprived of its vehemence and importunity. The 
former course appears to me to be the only one consist- 
ent with reason and morality; and I have adopted it in 
reliance on the good sense of my readers, that they will 
at once discriminate between practical instruction con- 
cerning this feeling addressed to the intellect, and las- 
civious representations addressed to the mere propensity 
itself; with the latter of which the enemies of all improve- 
ment may attempt to confound my observations. Every 
function of the mind and body is instituted by the Crea- 
tor; each has a legitimate sphere of activity; but all may 
be abused; and it is impossible regularly to avoid abuse 
of them, except by being instructed in their nature, ob- 
jects, and relations. This instruction ought to be ad 
dressed exclusively to the intellect; and, when it is so, it 
is science of the most beneficial description. The pro- 
priety, nay necessity, of acting on this principle, becomes 
more and more apparent, when it is considered that the 
discussions of the text suggest only intellectual ideas to 
individuals in whom the feeling in question is naturally 
weak, and that such minds perceive no indelicacy in 
knowledge which is calculated to be useful; while, on 
the other hand, persons in whom the feeling is naturally 
strong, are precisely those who stand in need of direc- 
tion, and to whom, of all others, instruction is the most 
necessary. 

An organized being is one which derives its existence 
from a previously existing organized being, which sub 
sists on food, grows, attains maturity, decays, and dies 






INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. Ill 

Whatever the ultimate object of the Creator, in con- 
stituting organized beings, may be, it will scarcely be 
denied, that part of his design is, that they should enjoy 
their existence here; and, if so, the object of every 
particular part of their structure ought to be found to 
conduce to this end. The first law, then, that must be 
obeyed, to render an organized being perfect in its kind, 
is, that the germ from which it springs shall be complete 
in all its parts, and sound in its whole constitution; the 
second is, that the moment it is ushered into life, and as 
long as it continues to live, it shall be supplied with food, 
light, air, and e\ery physical aliment necessary for its 
support; and the third law is, that it shall duly exercise 
its functions. When all these laws are obeyed, the being 
should enjoy pleasure from its organized frame, if its 
Creator is benevolent; and its constitution should be so 
adapted to its circumstances, as to admit of obedience to 
them, if its Creator is wise and powerful. Is there, then, 
no such phenomenon on earth, as a human being existing 
in full possession of organic vigor, from birth till advanc- 
ed age, when the organized system is fairly worn out? 
Numberless examples of this kind have occurred, and 
they show to demonstration, that the corporeal frame of 
man is so constituted as to admit the possibility of his 
enjoying organic health and vigor, during the whole 
period of a long life. In the life of Captain Cook it is 
mentioned, that ' one circumstance peculiarly worthy of 
notice is, the perfect and uninterrupted health of the 
inhabitants of New Zealand. In all the visits made to 
their towns, where old and young, men and women, 
crowded about our voyagers, they never observed a 
single person who appeared to have any bodily complaint; 
nor among the numbers that were seen naked, was once 
perceived the slightest eruption upon the skin, or the 
least mark which indicated that such an eruption had 
formerly existed. Another proof of the health of these 
people is tjie facility with which the wounds they at any 

I 



i ft* CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

time receive are healed. In the man who had been shot 
with the musket ball through the fleshy part of his arm, 
the wound seemed to be so well digested, and in so fair 
a way of being perfectly healed, that if Mr Cook had 
not known that no application had been made to it, he 
declared that he should certainly have inquired, with a 
very interested curiosity, after the vulnerary herbs and 
surgical art of the country. An additional evidence of 
human nature's being untainted with disease in New 
Zealand, is the great number of old men with whom it 
abounds. Many of them, by the loss of their hair and 
teeth, appeared to be very ancient, and yet none of them 
were decrepit. Although they were not equal to the 
young in muscular strength, they did not come in the 
least behind them with regard to cheerfulness and viva- 
city. Water, as far as our navigators could discover, is 
the universal and only liquor of the New Zealanders. 
It is greatly to be wished that their happiness in this 
respect may never be destroyed by such a connection 
with the European nations, as shall introduce that fond- 
s ness for spirituous liquors which hath been so fatal to the 
Indians of North America.' — Kippis's Life of Captain 
Cook. Dublin, 1788, p. 100. 

Now, as a natural law never admits of an exception, 
this excellent health could not occur in any individuals 
unless it were fairly within the capabilities of the race. 

The sufferings of women in childbed have been cited 
as evidence that the Creator has not intended the human 
being, under any circumstances, to execute all its func- 
tions entirely free from pain. " But, besides the obvipus 
answer, that the objection applies only to one sex, and 
is therefore not to be readily presumed to have its origin 
in nature, there is good reason to deny the assertion, 
and to ascribe the suffering in question to departures 
from the natural laws, either in the structure or habits 
of the individuals who experience it.* 
* See Appendix, No. 1" 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 119 

• The advantage of the study of the finest models of the 
human figure, as exhibited in painting and sculpture, is 
to raise our ideas of the excellence of form and propor- 
tion to which our nature is capable of attaining; for, 
other conditions being equal, the most perfect forms and 
proportions are always the best adapted for health and 
activity. 

Let us hold, then, that the organized system of man 
in itself, admits of the possibility of health, vigor, ana 
organic enjoyment, during the full period of life; and 
proceed to inquire into the causes why these advantages 
are not universal. 

One organic law is, that the germ of the infant being 
must be complete in all its parts, and perfectly sound in 
its condition, as an indispensable requisite to its vigor- 
ous development and full enjoyment of existence. If the 
corn that is sown is weak, wasted, and damaged, the 
plants that spring from it will be feeble, and liable to 
speedy decay. The same law holds in the animal king- 
dom; and I would ask, has it hitherto been observed by 
man? It is notorious that it has not. Indeed, its exist- 
ence has been either altogether unknown, or in a very 
high degree disregarded by human beings. The feeble, 
the sickly, the exhausted with age, and the incompletely 
developed, through extreme youth, marry, and, without 
the least compunction regarding the organization which 
they shall transmit to their offspring, send into the world 
miserable beings, the very rudiments of whose existence 
are tainted with disease. If we trace such conduct to 
its source, we shall find it to originate either in animal 
propensity, intellectual ignorance, or more frequently in 
both. The inspiring motives are generally mere sensual 
appetite, avarice, or ambition, operating in the absence 
of all just conceptions of the impending evils. The pun 
ishment of this offence is debility and pain, transmitted tc 
the children, and reflected back in anxiety and sorrow on 



120 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

the parents. Still the great point to be kept in view, is 
that these miseries are not legitimate consequences oi 
observance of the organic laws, but the direct chastise- 
ment of their infringement. These laws are unbending, 
and admit of no exception; they must be fulfilled, or the 
penalties of disobedience will follow. On this subject 
profound ignorance reigns in society. From such obser- 
vations as I have been able to make, I am convinced that 
the union of certain temperaments and combinations of 
mental organs in the parents, are highly conducive to 
health, talent, and morality in the offspring, and vice 
versa; and that these conditions may be discovered and 
taught with far greater certainty, facility, and advantage, 
than is generally imagined. It will be time enough to 
conclude that men are naturally incapable of obedience 
to* the organic laws, when, after their intellectual facul- 
ties and moral sentiments have been trained to observ- 
ance of the Creator's institutions, as at once their duty, 
their interest, and a grand source of their enjoyment, 
they shall be found to continue to rebel. 

A second organic law regards nutriment, which must 
be supplied of a suitable kind, and in due quantity. This 
law requires also free air, light, cleanliness, and attention 
to every physical arrangement by which the functions of 
the body may be favored or impaired. Have mankind, 
then, obeyed or neglected this institution? I need 
scarcely answer the question. To be able to obey insti- 
tutions, we must first know them. Before we can know 
the organic constitution of our body, we must study that 
constitution, and the study of the human constitution is 
anatomy and physiology. Before we can become ac- 
quainted with its relations to external objects, we must 
learn the existence and qualities of these objects, (un- 
folded by chemistry, natural history, and natural philos- 
ophy), and compare them with the constitution of the 
body. When we have fulfilled these conditions, we shall 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 121 

be better able to discover the laws which the Creator has 
instituted in regard to our organic system.* 

It will be said, however, that such studies are imprac- 
ticable to the great bulk of mankind, and, besides, do not 
appear much to benefit those who pursue them. They 
are impracticable only while mankind prefer founding 
their public and private institutions on the basis of the 
propensities, instead of on that of the sentiments. I have 
mentioned, that exercise of the nervous and muscular 
systems is required of all the race by the Creator's fiat, 
that if all, who are capable, would obey this law, a mo- 
derate extent of exertion, agreeable and salubrious in 
itself, would suffice to supply our wants, and to surround 
us with every beneficial luxury; and that a large portion 
of unemployed time would remain. The Creator has 
bestowed on us Knowing Faculties, fitted to explore the 
facts of these sciences, Reflecting Faculties to trace their 
relations, and Moral Sentiments calculated to feel inte- 
rest in such investigations, and to lead us to reverence 
and obey the laws which they unfold; and, finally, He has 
made this occupation, when entered upon with the view 
of tracing his power and wisdom in the subjects of our 
studies, and of obeying his institutions, the most delight- 
ful and invigorating of all vocations. In place, then, of 
such a course of education being impracticable, every 
arrangement of the Creator appears to be prepared in 
direct anticipation of its actual accomplishment. 

The second objection, that those who study these sci- 
ences are not more healthy and happy, as organized be- 
ings, than those who neglect them, admits of an easy 
answer. Parts of these sciences have been taught to a 
few individuals, whose main design in studying them has 
been to apply them as means of acquiring wealth and 



*In " Physiology applied to Health and Education," by Dr. A. 
Combe, many striking examples of the infringement of these laws, 
and of the injurious consequences, are given, to which I refer* 

11 



122 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

fame, but they have nowhere been taught as connected 
parts of a great system of natural arrangements, fraught 
with the highest influences on human enjoyment; and in 
no instance have the intellect and sentiments been syste- 
matically directed to the natural laws, as the grand foun- 
tains of happiness and misery to the race, and trained to 
observe and obey them as the institutions of the Creator. 

A third organic law, is, that all our functions shall be 
duly exercised; and is this law observed by mankind? 
Many persons are able, from experience, to attest the 
severity of the punishment that follows from neglecting 
to exercise the nervous and muscular systems, in the 
lassitude, indigestion, irritability, debility, and. general 
uneasiness that attend a sedentary and inactive life: But 
the penalties that attach to neglect of exercising the brain 
are much less known, and, therefore, I shall notice them 
more at length. 

The brain is the fountain of nervous energy to the 
whole body, and many individuals are habitual invalids, 
without actually laboring under any ordinary recognised 
disease, solely from defective or irregular exercise of the 
nervous system. In such cases, not only the mind, in its 
feelings and intellectual capacities, suffers debility, but 
all the functions of the body participate in its languor, 
because all of them receive a diminished and vitiated 
supply of the nervous stimulus, a due share of which is 
essential to their healthy action. The mode of increasing 
the strength and energy of any organ and function, is to 
exercise them regularly and judiciously, according to the 
laws of their constitution. # The brain is the organ of the 
mind; different parts of it manifest distinct faculties; and 
the power of manifestation in regard to. each is propor- 
tionate, cceteris paribus, to the size and activity of the 
organ. The brain partakes of the general qualities of 
the organized system, and is strengthened by the same 

* See Phren. Journ. vol. vi. p. 109. 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 123 

means as the other organs. When the muscles are call- 
ed into vivacious activity, an increased influx of blood 
and nervous stimulus takes place in them, and their 
vessels and fibres become at once larger, firmer, and 
more susceptible of action. Thought and feeling are to 
the brain what bodily exercise is to the muscles; they put 
it in motion and cause increased action in its blood- 
vessels, and an augmented elaboration of nervous energy. 
In a case reported by Dr. Pierquin, observed by him in 
one of the hospitals of Montpelier, in 1831, he saw, in a 
female patient in whom part of the skull had been re 
moved, the brain motionless and lying within the cranium 
when she was in a dreamless sleep; in motion and pro 
truding without the skull when she was agitated by 
dreams; more protruded in dreams reported by herselt 
to be vivid; and still more so when perfectly awake, and 
especially if engaged in active thought or sprightly con- 
versation. Similar cases are reported by Sir Astley 
Cooper and Professor Blumenbach.* 

Those parts of the brain which manifest the feelings, 
constitute by far the largest portions of it, and they are 
best exercised by discharging the active duties of life and 
of religion; the parts which manifest the intellect are 
smaller, and are exercised by the application of the un- 
derstanding in practical business in the arts, sciences, or 
literature. 

The first step, therefore, towards establishing the re- 
gular exercise of the brain, is to educate and train the 
mental faculties in youth; and the second is to place 
the individual habitually in circumstances demanding the 
discharge of useful and important duties. 

I have often heard the question asked, What is the use 
of education? The answer might be illustrated by ex- 



• See American Aimals of Phrenology, No. I. p. 37. Sir A. Cooper' 
Lectures on Surgery, by Tyrrel, vol. i. p. 279. Elliotson's Blumen 
bach, 4th edition, p. 283. 



124 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

plaining to the inquirer the nature and objects of the va- 
rious organs of the body, such as the limbs, lungs, eyes 
and then asking him, if he could perceive any advantage 
to a being so constituted, in obtaining access to earth, air, 
and light. He would, at once, declare, that they were 
obviously of the very highest utility to him, for they af- 
forded the only conceivable means by which these organs 
could obtain scope for action, which action we suppose 
him to know to be pleasure. To those, then, who know 
the constitution of the brain as the organ of the moral 
and intellectual powers of man, I need only say, that the 
objects presented to the mind by education, stimulate it, 
in the same manner that the physical elements of nature 
do to the nerves and muscles; they afford the faculties 
scope for action, and yield them delight. The meaning 
which is commonly attached to the word education in such 
cases, is Greek and Latin; but I employ it to signify 
knowledge of nature in all its departments. Again, the 
signification generally attached to the word use in such 
questions, is how much money, influence, or consideration, 
will education bring; these being the only objects of 
strong desire with which uncultivated minds are ac- 
quainted; and they do not perceive in what way edu- 
cation can greatly gratify such propensities. But the 
moment the mind is opened to the perception of its own 
constitution and to the natural laws, the great advantage 
of moral and intellectual cultivation, as a means of 
exercising and invigorating the brain and mental facul- 
ties, and also of directing the conduct in obedience to 
these laws, becomes apparent. 

But there is an additional benefit arising from healthy 
activity of biain, which is little known. Different modi- 
fications of the nervous energy elaborated by the brain 
appear to take place, according to the mode in which the 
faculties and organs are affected. For example, when 
misfortune and disgrace impend over us, the organs of 
Cautiousness, Self-Esteem, and Love of Approbation are 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 12o 

painfully excited; and appear to transmit an impaired, ol 
positively noxious, nervous influence to the heart, sto- 
mach, intestines, and thence to the rest of the body, 
digestion is deranged, the pulse becomes feeble and ir- 
regular, and the whole corporeal system wastes. When, 
on the other hand, the cerebral organs are agreeably 
affected, a benign and vivifying nervous influence per- 
vades the frame, and all the functions of the body are 
performed with increased pleasure and success. Now, 
it is a law, that the quantum of nervous energy increases 
with the number of cerebral organs roused to activity 
In the retreat of the French from Moscow, for example, 
when no enemy was near, the soldiers became depressed 
in courage, and enfeebled in body; they nearly sunk to 
the earth through exhaustion and cold; but no sooner did 
the fire of the Russian guns sound in their ears, or the 
gleam of their bayonets flash in their eyes, than new life 
seemed to pervade them. They wielded powerfully the 
arms, which, a few moments before, they could scarcely 
carry or trail on the ground. No sooner, however, was 
the enemy repulsed, than their feebleness returned 
The theory of this is, that the approach of the combat 
called into activity a variety of additional faculties; these 
sent new energy through every nerve; and, while their 
vivacity was maintained by the external stimulus, they 
rendered the soldiers strong beyond their merely physical 
condition. Many persons have probably experienced the 
operation of the same principle. If, when sitting feeble 
and listless by the fire, we have heard of an accident 
having occurred to some beloved friend, who required our 
instantaneous aid, or, if an unexpected visiter has arriv- 
ed, in whom our affections were bound up, in an instant 
our lassitude was gone, and we moved with an alertness 
and animation that seemed surprising to ourselves. The 
cause was the same; these events roused Adhesiveness 
Benevolence, Love of Approbation, Intellect, and 8 
variety of faculties, which were previously dormant, into 

11* 



26 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

action, and their influence invigorated the limbs. Dr. 
Sparrman, in his Voyage to the Cape, mentions, tha 
* there was now again a great scarcity of meat in the 
wagon; for which reason my Hottentots began to grum- 
ble, and reminded me that we ought not to waste so 
much of our time in looking after insects and plants, but 
give a better look out after the game. At the same time, 
they pointed to a neighboring dale over-run with wood, 
at the upper edge of which, at the distance of about a 
mile and a quarter from the spot where we then were, 
they had seen several buffaloes. Accordingly, we went 
thither; but, though our fatigue was lessened by our 
Hottentots carrying our guns for us up a hill, yet we 
were quite out of breath, and overcome by the sun, be- 
fore we got up to it. Yet, what even now appears to me 
a matter of wonder is, that as soon as we got a glimpse of 
the game, all this languor left us in an instant. In fact, 
we each of us strove to fire before the other, so that we 
seemed entirely to have lost sight of all prudence and 
caution.' — c In the mean time, our temerity, which chiefly 
proceeded from hurry and ignorance, was considered 
by the Hottentots as a proof of spirit and intrepidity 
hardly to be equalled.' 

It is part of the same law, that the more agreeable the 
mental stimulus, the more benign is the nervous influ- 
ence transmitted to the body. 

An individual who has received from nature a large 
and tolerably active brain, but who, from possessing 
wealth sufficient to remove the necessity for labor, is 
engaged in no profession, and who has not enjoyed the 
advantages of a scientific or extensive education, so as to 
take an interest in moral and intellectual pursuits for 
their own sake, is in general a victim to infringement of 
he natural laws. Persons of this description, ignorant 
of these laws, will, in all probability, neglect nervous and 
muscular exercise, and suffer the miseries arising from 
impeded circulation and impaired digestion. In entire 



INFRINGEMENT OJF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 127 

want of every object on which the energy of their minds 
might be expended, the stimulating influence of their 
brains on their bodies will be withheld, and the effects of 
muscular inactivity will be thereby aggravated; all the 
functions will, in consequence, become enieebled; lassi- 
tude, uneasiness, anxiety, and a thousand evils, will 
arise; and life, in short, will become a mere endurance 
of punishment for infringement of institutions calculated 
in themselves to promote happiness and afford delight 
when known and obeyed. This fate frequently overtakes 
uneducated females, whose early days have been occu- 
pied with business, or the cares of a family, but which 
occupations have ceased before old age has diminished 
corporeal vigor: It overtakes men also, who, uneducated, 
retire from active business in the prime of life. In some 
instances, these evils accumulate to such a degree that 
the brain itself gives way, its functions become deranged, 
and insanity is the consequence. 

It is worthy of remark, that the more elevated the 
objects of our study, the higher in the scale are the 
mental organs which are exercised, and the higher the 
organs the more pure and intense is the pleasure: hence, 
a vivacious and regularly supported excitement of the 
moral sentiments and intellect, is, by the organic law, 
highly favorable to ^health and corporeal vigor. In the 
fact of a living animal being able to retain life in an oven 
that will bake dead flesh, we see an illustration of the 
organic law rising above the purely physical; and, in the 
circumstance of the moral and intellectual organs 'trans- 
mitting the most favorable nervous influence to the whole 
bodily system, we have an example of the moral and 
intellectual law rising higher than the merely organic. 

No person, after having his intellect and sentiments 
imbued with a perception of, and belief in, the natural 
laws, as now explained, can 'possibly desire idleness, as 
a source of pleasure; nor can he possibly regard muscu- 
lar exertion and mental activity 2 when not carried to 



128 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

excess, as any thing else than enjoyments, Kindly vouch 
safed to him by the benevolence of the Creator. The 
notion that moderate labor and mental exertion are evils, 
can originate only from ignorance, or from viewing the 
effects of over-exhaustion as the result of the natural 
law, and not as the punishment for infringing it. 

If, then, we sedulously inquire, in each particular 
instance, into the cause of the sickness, pain, and prema- 
ture death, or the derangement of the corporeal frame in 
youth and middle life, which we see so common around 
us, and endeavor to discover whether it has originated in 
obedience to the physical and organic laws, or sprung 
from infringement of them, we shall be able to form some 
estimate how far bodily suffering is justly attributable to 
imperfections of nature, and how far to our own igno- 
rance, and neglect of divine institutions. 

The foregoing principles being of much practical 
importance, may, with propriety, be elucidated by a few 
actual cases. Two or three centuries ago, various cities 
in Europe were depopulated by the plague, and, in par- 
ticular, London was visited by an awful mortality from 
this cause, in the reign of Charles the Second. The 
people of that age attributed this scourge to the inscruta- 
ble decrees of Providence, and some to the magnitude 
of the nation's moral iniquities. According to the views 
now presented, it must have arisen from infringement of 
the organic laws, and been intended to enforce stricter 
obedience to them in future. There was nothing in- 
scrutable in its causes or objects. These, when clearly 
analyzed, appear to have had no direct reference to the 
moral condition of the people; I say direct reference to 
the moral condition of the people, because it would be 
easy to show that the physical, organic, and all the other 
natural laws,^are connected indirectly, and constituted in 
harmony, with the moral law; and that infringement of 
the latter often leads to disobedience to other laws, and 
brings a double punishment on the offender. The facts 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 1&* 

ecorded in history exactly correspond with the theory 
now propounded. The following is a picture of the con- 
dition of the cities of Western Europe in the 15th centu- 
ry: — ' The floors of the houses being commonly of clay, 
and strewed with rushes or straw, it is loathsome to think 
of the filth collected in the hovels of the common people, 
and sometimes in the lodgings even of the superior 
ranks, from spilled milk, beer, grease, fragments of 
bread, flesh, bones, spittle, excrements of cats, dogSj &c. 
To this Erasmus, in a letter 432, c. 1815, ascribes the 
plague, the sweating, sickness, &c, in London, which, 
in this respect, resembled Paris and other towns of any 
magnitude in those times.' — Ranken's History of France, 
vol. v. 416. The streets of London were excessively 
narrow, the habits of the people dirty, and no adequate 
provision was made for removing the filth unavoidably 
produced by a dense population. The great fire in that 
city, which happened soon after the pestilence, afforded 
an opportunity of remedying, in som,e degrees the nar- 
rowness of the streets; and habits of increasing cleanli- 
ness abated the filth; these changes brought the people 
into a closer obedience to the organic laws, and no 
plague has since returned. Again, till very lately, thou- 
sands of children died yearly of the small-pox; but, in 
our day, vaccine inoculation saves ninety-nine out of a 
hundred, who, under the old system, would have died. 
The theory of its operation is not known, but we may 
rest assured that it places the system more in accordance 
with the organic laws, than it was in the cases where 
death ensued 

A gentleman, who died about ten years ago at an 
advanced period of life, told me, that, six miles west 
from Edinburgh, the* country was so unhealthy in his 
youth, that every spring the farmers and their servants 
were seized with fever and ague, and needed regularly 
to undergo bleeding, and a course of medicine, to pre- 
vent attacks, or restore them from their effects. At that 



130 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

time, these visitations were believed to be sent by Prov* 
dence, and to be inherent in the constitution of things 
After, however, said my informant, an improved system 
of agriculture and draining was established, and vast 
pools of stagnant water, formerly left between the. ridges 
of the fields, were removed, dunghills carried to a dis- 
tance from the doors, and the houses themselves made 
more spacious and commodious, every symptom of ague 
and marsh-fever disappeared from the district, and it be- 
came highly salubrious. In other words, as soon as the 
gross infringement of the organic laws was abated by a 
more active exertion of the muscular and intellectual 
powers of man, the punishment ceased. Another friend 
informed me, that, about forty-two years ago, he com- 
menced farming in a high and uncultivated district of 
East-Lothian; that the crops at first suffered severely 
from cold fog s 4 ; that the whole region, however, has been 
since reclaimed and drained; that the climate has greatly 
improved, and, in particular, that the destructive mists 
have disappeared. The same results have followed in 
Canada and the United States of America, from similar 
operations. 

In like manner, many calamities occurred in coal-pits, 
in consequence of infringement of a physical law, viz. 
by introducing lighted candles and lamps into places 
filled with hydrogen gas, that had emanated from seams 
of coal, and which exploded, scorched, and suffocated 
the men and animals within its reach, until Sir Hum- 
phrey Davy discovered that the Creator had established 
such a relation between flame, wire-gauze, and hydrogen 
gas, that, by surrounding the flame with gauze, its power 
of exploding hydrogen was suspended. By the simple 
application of a covering of wire-gauze, over and around 
the flame, it is prevented from igniting gas beyond it, 
and colliers are now able to carry, with safety, lighted 
lamps into places highly impregnated with inflammable 
air. T have been informed, that the accidents from 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 13 1 

explosion, which still occasionally occur in coal mL»es, 
arise from neglecting to keep the lamps in perfect eon- 
dition. 

It is needless to multiply examples in support of the 
proposition, that the organized system of man, in itself, 
admits of a healthy existence from infancy to old r.ge, 
provided its germ has been healthy, and its subsequent 
condition uniformly in harmony with the physical and 
organic laws; but it has been objected, that, although 
the human faculties may perhaps be adequate to discover 
these laws, and to record them in books, they are to^ ally 
incapable of retaining them in the memory, and of for- 
mally applying them in every act of life. If, it is said, 
we could not move a step without calculating the effects 
of the law of gravitation, and adjusting the body to its 
influence; and could never eat a meal without squaring 
our appetite by the organic laws, life would be oppress ed 
by the pedantry of knowledge, and rendered miserable oy 
the observance of trivial details. The answer to this ob- 
jection is, that our faculties are adapted by the Creator to 
the external world, and act instinctively when their objects 
are properly placed before them. In.walking during day 
on a foot-path in the country, we adjust our steps to the 
inequalities of the surface, without being overburdened 
by mental calculation. Indeed, we , perform this adjust- 
ment with so little trouble, that we are not aware of 
having made any particular mental <5r muscular effort. 
But, on returning by the same path at night, when we 
cannot see, we stumble, and discover, for the first time, 
how important a duty our faculties had been performing 
during day, without our having adverted to their labor. 
Now, the simple medium of light is sufficient to bring 
clearly before our eyes the inequalities of the ground; 
but to make the mind equally familiar with the nature of 
the countless objects which abound in external nature, 
and their relations, an intellectual light is necessary, 
which can be struck out only by exercising and applying 



132 s CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

the knowing and reflecting faculties; but, when that light 
is obtained, and the qualities and relationships in question 
are clearly perceived, our, faculties, so long as the light 
lasts, will act instinctively in adapting our conduct to the 
nature of the objects, just as they do in accommodating 
our movements to the unequal surface of the earth 
After the poisonous qualities of hemlock are known, it is 
no more necessary for us to go through a course of phys- 
ical, botanical, and chemical reasoning, in order to be 
able to abstain from eating it, than it is to go through a 
course of mathematical investigation, before lifting the 
one foot higher than the other, in ascending a stair. At 
present, physical and political science, morals, and reli- 
gion, are not taught as parts of one connected .system; 
nor are the relations between them and the constitution 
of man pointed out to the world. In consequence, 
theoretical and practical knowledge are often widely 
separated. This ought not to be the case; for many 
advantages would flow from scientific education. Some 
of these would be the following: — 

In the first place, the physical and organic laws, when 
truly discovered, appear to the mind as institutions of the 
Creator; wise and salutary in themselves, unbending in 
their operation, and universal in their application. They 
interest our intellectual faculties, and strongly impress 
our sentiments. The necessity of obeying them comes 
home to us with all the authority of a mandate from God. 
While we confine ourselves to mere recommendations to 
beware of damp, to observe temperance, or to take exer- 
cise, without explaining the principle, the injunction 
carries only the weight due to the authority of the indi- 
vidual who gives it, and is addressed to only two ox three 
faculties, Veneration and Cautiousness, for instance, or 
Self-love in him who receives it. But if we are made 
acquainted with the elements of the physical world, and 
with those of our organized system, — with the uses of the 
different parts of the latter, — and the conditions neces 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 133 

sary to their healthy action, — with the causes of their 
derangement, and the pains thereon consequent: and if 
the obligation to attend to these conditions be enforced 
on our moral sentiments and intellect, as a duty which 
is imposed on us by the Creator, and which we cannot 
neglect without suffering punishment, then the motives 
to observe the physical and organic laws, as well as the 
power of doing so, will be prodigiously increased. Before 
we can dance well, we must not only know the motions, 
but our muscles must be trained to execute them. In like 
manner, to enable us to act on precepts, we must not 
only comprehend their meaning, but our intellects and 
sentiments must be disciplined into actual performance. 
Now, the very act of acquiring connected scientific 
information concerning the natural world, its qualities, 
and their' relations, is to the intellect and sentiments 
what practical dancing is to the muscles; it invigorates 
them; and, as obedience to the natural laws must spring 
from them, exercise renders it more easy and delightful. 

2. It is only by being taught the principle on which 
consequences depend, that we become capable of per- 
ceiving the invariableness of the results of the physical 
and organic laws; acquire confidence in, and respect for 
the laws themselves ; and fairly endeavor to accommodate 
our conduct to their operation. Dr. Johnson defines 
1 principle' to be ' fundamental truth; original postulate; 
first position from which others are deduced;' and in 
these senses I use the word. The human faculties are 
instinctively active, and desire gratification; but Intellect 
itself must have fixed data, on which to reason, otherwise 
it is itself a mere impulse. The man in whom Coiistruc- 
tiveness and Weight are powerful, will naturally betake 
himself to constructing machinery; but, if he be ignorant 
of the principles of mechanical science, he will not direct 
his efforts to ends equally important, or attain them with 
equal success, as if his intellect had been stored with 
such knowledge Scientific principles are deduced from 

12 K 



134 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

the laus of nature. A man may make music by the 
instinctive impulses of Time and Tune; but there are 
immutable laws of harmony, of which, if he be ignorant, 
he will not perform so correctly and in such good taste, 
as he would do if he knew them. In every art and 
science, there are principles referable solely to the con- 
stitution of nature, but these admit of countless applica- 
tions. A musician may produce gay, grave, solemn^ or 
ludicrous tunes, all good of their kind, by following the 
laws of harmony; but he will never produce one good 
piece by violating them. While the inhabitants west of 
Edinburgh allowed the stagnant pools to deface their 
fields, some seasons would be more healthy than others; 
and, while the cause of the disease was unsuspected, this 
would confirm them in the notion that health and sickness 
were dispensed by an overruling Providence, on inscru- 
table principles, which they could not comprehend: but 
the moment the Cfcuse was known, it would be found that 
the most healthy seasons were those that were cold and 
dry, and the most sickly those that were warm and moist; 
and they would then discover, that the superior salubrity 
of one year, and unwholesomeness of another, were 
clearly referable to one principle; and after perceiving 
this truth, the^ would both be more strongly prompted 
tc apply the remedy, and be rendered morally and intel- 
lectually more capable of doing so. If some intelligent 
friend had merely told them to drain their fields, and 
remove their dunghills, they would not probably have 
"complied with his recommendation; but whenever their 
intellects were led to the perception that the evil would 
continue until they acted in this manner, the improvement 
would become easy. 

The truth of these views may be still farther illustrated 
by examples. A young gentleman of Glasgow, whom 1 
knew, went out, as a merchant, to North America 
Business required him to sail from New York to St 
Domingo. The weather was hot, and he, being very 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 135 

sick, found the confinement below deck, in bed, as he 
said, intolerable; that is, this confinement was, for the 
moment, more painful than the course which he adopted, 
of laying himself down at full length on the deck, in the 
open air. He was warned by his fellow passengers, and 
the officers of the ship, that he would inevitably induce 
fever by this proceeding; but he was utterly ignorant of 
the physical and organic laws; his intellect had been 
trained to regard only wealth and present pleasure as 
objects of real importance; it could perceive no neces- 
sary connection between exposure to the mild and grate- 
ful sea breeze of a warm climate, and fever, and he 
obstinately refused to quit his position. The conse- 
quence was, that he was rapidly taken ill, and lived just 
one day after arriving at St. Domingo. Knowledge of 
chemistry and physiology would have enabled him, in an 
instant, to understand that the sea air, in warm climates, 
holds a prodigious quantity of water in solution, and that 
damp and heat, operating together on the human organs, 
tend to derange their healthy action, and ultimately to 
destroy them entirely: and if his sentiments had been 
deeply imbued with a feeling of the indispensable duty 
of yielding obedience to the institutions of the Creator, 
he would have actually enjoyed, not only a greater 
desire, but a greater power, of supporting the temporary 
inconvenience of the heated cabin, and might, by possi- 
bility, have escaped death. 

Captain Murray, R. N. mentioned to Dr. A. Combe, 
that, in his opinion, most of the bad effects of the climate 
of the West Indies might be avoided by care and atten- 
tion to clothing; and so satisfied was he on this point, 
that he had petitioned to be sent there in preference to 
the North American station, and had no reason to re*gret 
the change. The measures which he adopted, and their 
effects, are detailed in the follow interesting and in 
structive letter: 



36 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

1 Assynt, April 22, 1827. 
■ My dear sir, 

1 I should have written to you before this, had I not 
been anxious to refer to some memorandums, which I 
could not do before my return home from Coul. I at- 
tribute the great good health enjoyed by the crew of his 
Majesty's ship Valorous, when on the West India station, 
during the period I had the honor of commanding her, 
to the following causes, 1st, To the keeping the ship 
perfectly dry and clean; 2d, To habituating the men to 
the wearing of flannel next the skin; 3d, To the pre- 
caution I adopted, of giving each man a proportion of his 
allowance of cocoa before he left the ship in the morning, 
either for the purpose of watering, or any other duty he 
might be sent upon; and, 4th, To the cheerfulness of 
the crew. 

' The Valorous sailed from Plymouth on the 24th 
December 1823, having just returned from the coast of 
Labrador and Newfoundland, where she had been sta- 
tioned two years, the crew, including officers, amounting 
to 150 men. I had ordered the purser to draw two 
pairs of flannel drawers, and two shirts extra for each 
man, as ; soon as I knew that our destination was the 
West Indies; and, on our sailing, I issued two of each 
to every man and boy in the ship, making the officers of 
each division responsible for the men of their respective 
divisions wearing these flannels during the day and 
night; and, at the regular morning nine o'clock musters, I 
inspected the* crew personally; for you can hardly con- 
ceive the difficulty I have had in forcing some of the 
men to use flannel at first; although I never yet knew 
one who did not, from choice, adhere to it, when once 
fairly adopted. The only precaution after this, was to 
see that, in bad weather, the watch, when relieved, did 
not turn in in their wet clothes, which the young hands 
were apt to do, if not looked after; and their flannels 
were shifted every Sunday. 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 131 

' Whenever fresh beef and vegetables could be pro- 
cured at the contract price, they were always issued in 
preference to salt provisions. Lime juice was issued 
whenever the men had been fourteen days on ship's 
provisions; and the crew took all their meals on the main 
deck, except in very bad weather. 

' The quarter and main decks were scrubbed with 
sand and water, and wet holy-stones, every morning at 
daylight. The lower deck, cock-pit, and store-rooms 
were scrubbed every day after breakfast, with dry holy- 
stones and hot sand, until quite white, the sand being 
carefully swept up, and thrown overboard. The pump- 
well was also swabbed out dry, and then scrubbed with 
holy-stones and hot sand; and here, as well as in every 
part of the ship which was liable to damp, Brodie-stoves 
were constantly used, until every appearance of humidity 
vanished. The lower-deck and cock-pit were washed 
once every week in dry weather; but Brodie-stoves were 
constantly kept burning in them, until they were quite 
dry again. 

' The hammocks were piped up, and in the nettings, 
from 7 a. m. until dusk, When the men of each watch 
took down their hammocks alternately, by which means, 
only one-half of the hammocks being down at a time, the 
tween-decks were not so crowded, and the watch relieved 
was sure of turning into a dry bed on going below. The 
bedding was aired every week, once at least. The men 
were not permitted to go on shore in the heat of the 
sun, or where there was a probability of their getting 
spirituous liquors ; but all hands were indulged with a run 
on shore, when out of reach of such temptation. 

1 T was employed on the coast of Caraccas, the West 
India Islands, and Gulf of Mexico; and, in course of 
service, I visited Trinidad, Margarita, Cocha, C^mana 
Nueva Barcelona, Laguira, Porto Cabello, and Maracai 
bo, on the coast of Caraccas; all the West India Islands, 
from Tobago to Cuba, both inclusive; as also Cara§oa 

12* 



138 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

and Aruba, and several of those places repeatedly; also 
to Vera Cruz and Tompico, in the Gulf of Mexico, which 
you will admit mustliave given a trial to the constitutions 
of my men, after two years among the icebergs of 
Labrador, without an intervening summer between that 
icy coast and the coast of Caraccas; yet I arrived in 
England on June 24th, without having buried a single 
man or officer belonging to the ship, or indeed having a 
single man on the sick list; from which I am satisfied 
that a dry ship will always be a healthy one in any 
climate. When in command of the Recruit, of 18 guns, 
in the year 1 809, I was sent to Vera Cruz, where I 

found the 46, the 42, the 18, and 

gun-brig; we were joined by the 36, and 

the 18. During the period we remained at an- 
chor (from 8 to 10 weeks), the three frigates lost from 30 

to 50 men each, the brigs 16 to 18, the most of 

her crew, with two different commanders; yet the Re- 
cruit, although moored in the middle of the squadron, 
and constant intercourse held with the other ships, did 
not lose a man, and had none sick. Now, as some of 
these ships had been as long in the West Indies as the 
Recruit, we cannot attribute her singularly healthy state 
to seasoning, nor can I to superior cleanliness, because 
even the breeches of the carronades, and all the pins, 

were polished bright in both and , which 

was not the case with the Recruit. Perhaps her healthy 
state may be attributed to cheerfulness in the men; to 
my never allowing them to go on shore in the morning, 
on an empty stomach; to. the use of dry sand and holy- 
stone for the ship; to never working them in the sun; 
perhaps to accident. Were I asked my opinion, I would 
say that I firmly believe that cheerfulness contributes 
more to keep a ship's company healthy, than any pre- 
caution that can be adopted; and that, with this attain- 
ment, combined with the precautions I have mentioned, 
I should sail for the West Indies, with as little anxiety 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 139 

as I would for any other station. My valorous fellows 
were as cheerful a set as I ever saw collected together.' ' 

Suppose that two gentlemen were to ascend one of the 
Scottish mountains, in a hot summer day, and to arrive 
at the top, bathed in perspiration, and exhausted with 
'atigue: that one of them knew intimately the- physical 
And organic laws, and that, all hot and w T earied as he was, 
he should button up his coat closer about his body, wrap 
a handkerchief about his neck, and continue walking, at 
a quick pace, round the summit, in the full blaze of the 
sun: that the other, ignorant of these laws, should eager- 
ly run to the base of a projecting cliff; stretch himself at 
full length on the turf, under its refreshing shade; open 
his vest to the grateful breeze; and, in short, give himself 
up entirely to the present luxuries of coolness and re- 
pose; — the former, by warding off the rapid chill of the 
cold mountain air, would descend with health unimpaired; 
while the latter would carry with him, to a certainty, the 
seeds of rheumatism, consumption, or fever, from permit- 
ting perspiration to be instantaneously checked, and the 
surface of the body to be cooled with an injurious rapid- 
ity. 1 have put these cases hypothetically, because, 
although I have seen and experienced the benefits of* the 
former method, I have not directly observed the opposite 
No season, however, passes in the Highlands, in which 
some tragedy of the latter description does not occur; 
and, from the minutest information that, I have been able 
to obtain, the causes have been such as are here des- 
cribed. 

The following case is illustrative of the points under 
consideration, and is one which I have had too good an 
opportunity of observing in all its stages. 

An individual in whom it was my duty as well as plea- 
sure to be greatly interested, had resolved on carrying 
Mr. Owen's- views into practical effect, and got an estab- 
lishment set agoing on his principles, at Orbiston, in 
Lanarkshire. The labor and anxiety which- he under 



140 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

went at the commencement of the undertaking, gradually 
mpaired an excellent constitution; and, without perceiv 
ing the change, he, by way of setting an example of in- 
dustry, took to digging with the spade, and actually 
worked for fourteen days at this occupation, although 
previously unaccustomed to labor. This produced hae- 
moptysis. Being unable now for bodily exertion, he gave 
up his whole time to directing and instructing the people, 
about 250 in number, and for two or three weeks spoke 
the whole day, the effusion of blood from his lungs contin- 
uing. Nature rapidly sunk under this irrational treat- 
ment; and at last he came to Edinburgh for medical 
advice. When the structure and uses of his lungs were 
explained to him, and when it was pointed out that his 
treatment of them had been equally injudicious as if he 
had thrown lime or dust into his eyes, after inflammation, 
he was struck with the extent and consequences of his 
own ignorance, and exclaimed, How greatly he would 
have been benefited if one month of the five years which 
he had been forced to spend in a vain attempt at acquir- 
ing a mastery over the Latin tongue, had been dedicated 
to conveying to him information concerning the structure 
of his own body, and the causes which preserve and im- 
pair its functions. He had departed too widely from the 
organic laws to admit of an easy return; he was seized 
with inflammation of the lungs, and with great difficulty 
got through that attack; but it impaired his constitution 
so grievously, that he died, after a lingering illness of 
eleven months. He acknowledged, however, even in his 
severest pain, that he suffered under a just law. The 
lungs, he saw, were of the first-rate importance to life, 
and their proper treatment was provided for by this tre- 
mendous punishment, inflicted for neglecting the condi- 
tions requisite to their health. Had he given them rest, 
and returned to obedience to the organic law, at the first 
intimation of departure from it, the way to health was 
open and ready to receive him; but, in utter ignorance, 



TROA INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 141 

he persevered for weeks in direct opposition to that law, 
till the fearful result ensued. 

This last case affords a striking illustration of the in- 
dependence of the different institutions of the Creator , 
and of the necessity of obeying all of them, as the only 
condition of safety and enjoyment. The individual here 
alluded to, was deeply engaged in a most benevolent and 
disinterested experiment for promoting, the welfare of his 
fellow creatures; and superficial observers would say that 
this was just an example of the inscrutable decrees of 
Providence, which visited him with sickness, and ulti- 
mately with death, in the very midst of his most virtuous 
exertions. But the institutions of the Creator are wiser 
than the imaginations of such men. The first principle 
on which existence on earth and all its advantages de- 
pend, is obedience to the physical and organic laws. 
The benevolent Owenite neglected these, in his zeal to 
obey the moral law; and, if it were possible to dispense 
with the one by obeying the other, the whole scheme of 
man's existence would speedily become deranged, and 
involved in inexplicable disorder. 

The following case was furnished to me by an actual 
observer: — A gentleman far advanced in years fell into a 
state of bodily weakness, which rendered the constant 
presence of an attendant necessary. A daughter, in 
whom Adhesiveness, Benevolence, and Veneration were 
largely developed, dovoted herself to this service with 
the most ceaseless assiduity. She was his companion for 
month after month, and year after year, happy in cheer- 
ing the last days of her respected parent, and knowing 
no pleasure equal to that of solacing and comforting him. 
For months in succession she did not go abroad from the 
house; her duty became dearer to her the longer she dis- 
charged it; till at length her father became the sole object 
on earth of her feelings and her thoughts. The super- 
ficial observer would say that such conduct was admira- 
ble, and that she must have received a rich n ward from 



1*2 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

heaven for such becoming and virtuous devotion. Bu 
providence rules by other laws, and never yields. Her 
enjoyment of mental happiness -and vigor depended on the 
condition of her brain, and her brain was subject to the 
organic laws. These laws demand, as an indispensable 
condition of health, exercise in the open air, and variety 
of employment, calculated to maintain all the faculties in 
activity. She neglected the first in her constant atten- 
dance in her father's chamber; and she overlooked the 
second in establishing him as the exclusive object of her 
consideration. The result was, that she fell into bad 
health, accompanied by weakness of brain, extreme irri- 
tability, and susceptibility of mind, excessive anxiety, 
hysteria, and even symptoms of insanity. Some judicious 
friends at last interfered, and by forcing her to leave for 
a time, although much against her inclination, the object 
of her solicitude, rescued her from death, or confirmed 
mental derangement. If this case had been allowed to 
proceed uninterruptedly to its natural termination, many 
pious persons would have marvelled at the mysterious 
dispensations of Providence in afflicting so dutiful a 
daughter; whereas, when the principle of the divine gov- 
ernment is understood, the result appears neither* won- 
derful nor perplexing. 

In the works of religious authors, many erroneous 
views of divine dispensations may be found traceable to 
ignorance of the natural laws. The Reverend Ebenezer 
Erskine, speaking of the state of his wife's mind, says, 
'For a month or two the arrows of the Almighty were 
within her, the poison whereof did drink up her spirits; 
and the terrors of God did set themselves in array against 
her.' He called in the assistance of some neighboring 
clergyman to join in prayers on her behalf, and she was 
induced to pray with them; ' but she still continued to 
charge herself with the unpardonable sin, and to conclude 
that she was a castaway.' Such feelings occurring in a 
woman of blameless life, clearly indicated diseased action 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 143 

in the organs of Cautiousness. s Before she fell into 
these depths, 5 he continues, ' she told me that the Lord 
gave her such a discovery of the glory of Christ as 
darkened the whole creation, and made all things appear 
as dung* and dross in comparison of him.' These ex- 
pressions indicate excessive excitement of the organs of 
Wonder and Veneration. She subsequently recovered 
ner mental serenity; and her husband treats of the whole 
phenomena as purely mental and religious. He, however, 
afterwards incidentally mentions that she was subject 
to bad health, and that ' melancholy was a great ingredi- 
ent in her disease. 5 We now know that melancholy is a 
diseased affection of the organs of Cautiousness. 

At the time when Mr. Erskine lived and wrote, the 
physiology of the brain was unknown; the occurrences 
wb^ch he describes had a real existence; and he had 
been taught to attribute them to the agency of the divine 
spirit, or of the devil, according to their different char- 
acters. He is, therefore, not deserving of censure for the 
errors into which he unavoidably fell; but now when the 
facts which he describes, and analogous occurrences in 
our own day, can be traced to diseased action of the 
organs of the mind, we are authorised to view the prov- 
idence of God in a different light. While it would be 
subversive of all religion to throw any doubt whatever 
on the reality and importance of religious feelings, sound 
in their character, and directed to proper objects, it is 
nearly equally injurious to the sacred cause, to .mistake 
the excitement and depression of disease for the influence 
of the Holy Spirit, or the agency of the enemy of man- 
kind. 

It is mentioned also in the life of Mr. Erskine, that his 
wife bore several children to him while in precarious 
health, and that the situation * of the manse, or parsonage 
house, was unwholesome. 5 We are told, also, that in the 
year 1713, three of his children died; that one died in 
1720, and that, in 1723, a fifth was on the brink of death. 



144 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

but recovered.* He treats of all these events as f severe 
trials,' and ' sore afflictions, ' without having the least 
glimpse of their true causes and objects, or their relation 
to the natural laws. 

Again, Hannah More, in a letter to the Rev. John 
Newton, dated Cowslip's Green, 23d July 1788, says, 
1 When I am in the great world, I consider myself as in 
an enemy's country, and as beset with snares, and this 
puts me upon my guard.' 'Fears and snares seem 
necessary to excite my circumspection; for it is certain 
that my mind has more languor, and my faith less energy 
here, where I have no temptations from without, and 
where I live in the full and constant perusal of the most 
beautiful objects of inanimate nature, the lovely wonders 
of the munificence and bounty of God. Yet, in the 
midst of his blessings, I should be still more tempted to 
forget him, were it not for frequent nervous headaches 
and low fevers, which I find to be wonderfully wholesome 
for my moral health. 'f 

This passage contains several propositions that merit 
attention. First, according to the natural laws, ' the 
most beautiful objects of inanimate nature,' and c the 
lovely wonders of the munificence and bounty of God, 3 
are calculated to invigorate the moral, religious, and 
intellectual faculties, in all well constituted and rightly 
instructed minds; yet Hannah More's mind ' had more 
languor, and her faith less energy,' amidst such objects, 
than 'when beset with snares.' Secondly, According 
both to the natural laws and scripture, c evil communi- 
cations corrupt good manners;' but ' when in the great 
world,' and ' in an enemy's country,' her faith was im- 
proved: and, thirdly, 'Nervous headaches and low fe- 
vers,' are the consequences of departures from the 
organic laws, and are intended to reclaim the sufferer to 

* Life and Diary of the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, 1831, pp. 266, 301 
286. 290, 320. 

t Memoirs of H. More, Vol. II. p. 110, 111. 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 146 

obedience that the pain may cease; yet she c found them 
wonderfully wholesome for her moral health,' and they 
prevented her from c forgetting God!' 

Only disease or errors in education could have pro- 
duced such perverted experience in a woman so talented, 
so pious, and so excellent, as Hannah More. Can we 
, wonder that the profane should sneer, and that practical 
religion should slowly advance, when piety exhibits itself 
in such lamentable contradiction to the divine institutions? 
And still more so, when, from proceeding on a false the- 
ory, it contradicts itself? Hannah More, in her Journal 
m 1794, says, c confined this week with four days head- 
ache — an unprofitable time — thoughts wandering---little 
communion with God. I see by every fresh trial, mat the 
dime of sickness is seldom the season for religious improve- 
ment. This great work should be done in health, or it 
will seldom be done well, 5 vol. ii. p. 418. This passage 
is full of sound sense ; but it is in contradiction to her 
previous assertion, that c nervous headaches and low 
fevers were wonderfully wholesome for her moral health.' 

These examples, to which many more might be added, 
may serve as illustrations of the proposition, That without 
a philosophy of human nature, even religious authors, 
when treating of sublunary events, cannot always pre- 
serve consistency either with reason or themselves, and 
hence that religion can never become thoroughly prac- 
tical, nor put forth its full energies for human improve- 
ment, until it is wedded to philosophy. In proportion as 
•men shall become acquainted with the natural laws, and 
apply them as tests to theological writings relative to this 
world, they will become convinced of the truth of this 
observation. 

Having traced bodily suffering, in the case of individu- 
als, to neglect of, or opposition to, the organic laws, by 
their progenitors or by themselves, I next advert to 
another set of calamities, which may be called social 
miseries, and which obviously spring from the same 

13 



(46 



ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 



causes; although of this latter fact complete evidence was 
not possessed until Phrenology was discovered. And 
first, in regard to evils of a domestic nature: — 

One fertile source of unhappiness arises from persons 
uniting in marriage, whose tempers, talents, and disposi- 
tions do not harmonize. If it be true that natural talents 
and dispositions are connected by the Creator with par- 
ticular configurations of brain, then it is obviously one of 
his institutions that, in forming a compact for life, these 
should be attended to. The following facts I regard to 
be fully established by competent evidence. The por- 
tion of the brain before the line A A, Fig. 1, manifests 
the intellect, that above B manifests the moral senti- 
ments, *and all the rest the animal propensities; and each 
part acts, cceteris paribus with 9. degree of energy corres- 
ponding to its size. The following figures exhibit these 
regions existing in different proportions in different ind' 
viduals; and the lives of the persons represented bear 
testimony to their possessing the corresponding disposi- 
tions. 

Fig. 1. Hare. 




FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 147 

The first is a view of the head of William Hare, the 
associate of Burke, who, acting in concert with him, 
strangled sixteen individuals in Edinburgh for the pur- 
pose of selling their bodies for dissection. 

In this head the organs which manifest the animal pro- 
pensities decidedly preponderate over those which mani- 
fest the moral sentiments and intellect. 

Another example of the same kind is afforded by the 
head of Williams, who was executed along with the no- 
torious Bishop, in London, for the same crime as that of 
Hare.* 

Fig. 2. Williams. 




In the head of the celebrated Richard Brinsely Sheri- 
dan, we find an example of the three regions of the brain 
in question, existing nearly in a state of equilibrium 
The natural tendencies of such an individual are equally 
strong towards vice and virtue ; and his actual conduct is 
generally determined by the influence of external circum- 
stances. 

The life of Sheridan shows,, that while he possessed 
high mental qualities, he was also the slave of degrading 
and discreditable vices. 

* See Phrenological Journal, vol. vii. p. 446. 



148 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

Fig. 3. Sheridan. 




Fig. 4. Melancthon. 




The head of the celebrated Philip Melancthon the 
reformer, and associate of Luther, furnishes an example 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 149 

of the decided predominance of the moral and intellec- 
tual regions over that of the animal propensities. The 
drawing is copied from a portrait by Albert Durer. 

The following description of the head is given in Dr. 
Spurzheim's work, • Phrenology in Connection with the 
Study of Physiognomy.' ' It is the brain of an extra- 
ordinary man. The organs of the moral and religious 
feelings predominate greatly, and will disapprove of all 
violence, irreverence, and injustice. The forehead be- 
tokens a vast and comprehensive understanding; and the 
ensemble a mind the noblest, the most amiable, and the 
most intellectual that can be conceived.' He was born 
in 1495, and rendered great services to the cause of the 
reformation by his admirable abilities and great modera- 
tion. ' He was humane, gentle, and readily won upon 
by mild and generous treatment; but when his adversa- 
ries made use of imperious and menacing language, he 
rose superior to his general meekness of disposition, and 
showed a spirit of ardor, independence, nay, of intrepi- 
dity — looking down with contempt upon the threats of 
power, and the prospect even of death.' 

The demarcations in the figures are not arbitrary 
The space before A A corresponds to the anterior lobe 
of the brain; and the space above B -includes all the 
convolutions that lie on the upper surface of the brain, 
and rise higher than the organs of Cautiousness, corres- 
ponding to nearly the middle of the parietal bones, and 
of Causality, situated in the upper part of the forehead 
It is not difficult to distinguish these regions; and a 
comparison of their relative proportions with the talents 
and dispositions of individuals, will convince any intelli- 
gent, honest, and accurate observer, of the truth of the 
foregoing statements. I have examined the heads, or 
casts of the heads or skulls, of several hundred criminals, 
in various countries, and found them all to belong to the 
classes represented by the figures of the heads of Hare 
or of Sheridan, and never saw one of them with a braiir 

13* L 



150 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

like that of Melancthon. Neither have I ever seen a 
man distinguished by moral and intellectual qualities like 
those of Melancthon, presenting a brain like that of 
Hare. The figures represent Nature, not a casual ap- 
pearance, but forms which are found constantly in com- 
bination with the qualities here named: and I ask why 
Nature, when she speaks to a geologist or chemist, 
should be listened to with profound attention, and her 
revelations treasured for human improvement, — but 
scouted and despised when she speaks to and is inter- 
preted by phrenologists? It is (?^d who speaks from 
Nature in all her departments: and the brain is as as- 
suredly his workmanship as the Milky-Way, with all its 
myriads of suns. If the doctrine before expounded be 
true, that every faculty is good in itself, that the folly 
and crime which disgrace human society spring from 
abuses of the faculties, and that the tendency to abuse 
them originates in the disproportion of certain parts of 
the brain to each other, and in moral and intellectual 
ignorance of the proper mode of manifesting them, how 
completely do these considerations go to the root of the- 
ology and morals! At present the influence of organiza- 
tion in determining the natural dispositions is altogether 
neglected or denied by the common school of divines, 
moralists, and philosophers; yet it is of an importance 
exceeding all other terrestrial influences and considera- 
tions. 

If we imagine an individual endowed with the splendid 
cerebral development of Melancthon, under the influence 
of youthful passion and inexperience, uniting himself for 
life to a female possessing a head like that of Hare or 
Bishop, the effects could not fail to be most disastrous, 
with respect both to his own happiness, and to the 
qualities of his offspring. In the first place, after the 
animal feelings were gratified, and their ardor had sub- 
sided, the two minds could not by any possibility sym- 
pathize. Many marriages are unhappy in consequence 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 151 

of an instinctive discord between the modes of feeling 
and thinking of the husband and wife; the cause of 
which they themselves cannot explain. The mental dif- 
ferences will be found to arise from different develop- 
ments of brain. If the husband be deficient in the organ 
of Conscientiousness, and the wife possess it in a high 
degree, she will be secretly disgusted with the dishonesty 
and inherent falsehood of his character, which she will 
have many opportunities of observing, even when they 
are unknown to the world. 'What,' says Dr. Johnson, 
c can be expected but disappointment and repentance 
from a choice made in the immaturity of youth, in the 
ardor of desire, without judgment, without foresight, 
without inquiry after conformity of opinions, similarity 
of manners, rectitude of judgment, or purity of senti- 
ment? Such is the common process of marriage. A 
youth and maiden meeting by chance, or brought togeth- 
er by artifice, exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, 
go home, and dream of one another. Having little to 
divert attention, or to diversify thought, they find them- 
selves uneasy when they are apart, and therefore con- 
clude that they shall be happy together. They marry, 
and discover what nothing but voluntary blindness before 
had concealed; they wear out life in altercations, and 
charge nature with cruelty. 1 

Until Phrenology was discovered, no natural index to 
mental qualities, that could be practically relied on, was 
possessed, and each individual, in directing his conduct, 
was left to the guidance of his own sagacity; but the 
natural law never bended one iota to accommodate itself 
to that state of ignorance. Men suffered from unsuitable 
alliances, and they will continue to do so, until they 
shall avail themselves of the means of judging afforded 
by Phrenology, and act in accordance with its dictates. 
In the play of the Gamester, Mrs. Beverly is represented 
as a most excellent wife, acting habitually under the 
guidance of the moral sentiments and intellect; but 



152 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

married to a being who, while he adores her, reduces 
her to beggary and misery. His sister utters an excla- 
mation to this effect: — Why did just Heaven unite such 
an angel to so heartless a thing! The parallel of this 
case occurs too often in real life ; only it is not ■' just 
Heaven' that makes such matches, but ignorant and 
thoughtless human beings, who imagine themselves ab- 
solved from all obligation to study and obey the laws of 
Heaven, as announced in the general arrangement of 
the universe. 

The justice and benevolence of rendering the indivi- 
duals themselves unhappy who neglect this great institu- 
tion of the Creator, become more striking when, in the 
next place, we consider the effects, by the organic law, 
of such conduct on the children of these ill-assorted 
unions. 

Physiologists, in general, are agreed, that a vigorous 
and healthy constitution of body in the parents, com- 
municates existence in the most perfect state to the 
offspring,* and vice versa. 

The following instances of the transmission of defects 
are given in the Athenaeum: — c Many persons who have 
never *known any, or perhaps not more than one, deaf 
and dumb individual in the immediate circle in which 
they lived, would be astonished to read the lists of ap- 
plications circulated by the committee for the asylum in 
the Kent Road, so ably conducted by Mr. Watson, 
which usually contain nearly a hundred names. The 
most remarkable fact, however, which these lists present, 
is the number of deaf and dumb children frequently 
found in the same families, evidently in consequence of 
the continued operation of some unknown cause con- 
nected with the parents. Three, four, and five, deaf and 
dumb children are not uncommonly met with in one 
r amily, and in some instances there have been as many 

* See Appendix, No. II. 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 153 

as seven. In the family of Martain, a laborer, out often 
children, seven were deaf and dumb; in the family of 
Kelly, a porter, seven out of eight were deaf and dumb; 
and in the family of Aldum, a weaver, six out of twelve 
were deaf and dumb. The .result of a table of twenty 
families, given in the 'Historical Sketch of the Asylum,' 
published by Powell, Dowgate-hill, is ninety deaf and 
dumb out of one hundred and fifty-nine children. ' # 

Many observers of mankind, as well as medical authors, 
have remarked also the transmission, by hereditary de- 
scent, of mental talents and dispositions. 

Dr. King, in speaking of the fatality which attended 
the House of Stuart, says, ' If I were to ascribe their 
calamities to another cause (than an evil fate), or endea- 
vor to account for them by any natural means, 1 should 
tnink they were chiefly owing to a certain obstinacy of 
temper, which appears^ to have been hereditary and inherent 
in all the Stuarts, except Charles II.' 

It is well known that the caste of the Brahmins is the 
highest in point of intelligence as well as rank of all the 
castes in Hindostan; and it is mentioned by the mission- 
aries as an ascertained fact, that their children are 
naturally more acute, intelligent, and docile, than the 
children of the inferior castes, age and other circum 
stances being equal. 

Dr. Gregory, in treating of the temperaments in his 
Conspectus Medicinoz Theoretical, says, c Hujusmodi va- 
rietates non corporis modo, verum et animi quoque, 
plerumque congenita?, nonnunquam hereditaria?, obser- 
vantur. Hoc modo parentes ssepe in proles reviviscunt; 
certe parentibus liberi similes sunt, non vultum modo et 
corporis for mam, sed animi indolem, et virtutes, et vitia. 
Imperiosa gens Claudia diu Roma? floruit, impigra, ferox, 
superba; eadem illachrymabilem Tiberium, tristissimum 
tyrannum, produxit; tandem in immanem Caligulam, et 

* Athensum, 28th May 1828, p. 489. 



154 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

Claudium, et Agrippinam, ipsumque demum Neronem 
post sexcentos annos, desitura.' * — Cap. i. sect. 16. 

The following remarks by Professor John Gregory, 
are extracted from his Comparative View of the State 
and Faculties of man with those of the Animal World 
' By a proper attention we can preserve and improve 
the breed of horses, dogs, cattle, and indeed all other 
animals. Yet it is amazing this observation was never 
transferred to the human species, where it would be 
equally applicable. It is certain that, notwithstanding 
our promiscuous marriages, many families are distin- 
guished by peculiar circumstances in their character. 
This family character, like a family face, will often be 
lost in one generation and appear again in the succeeding. 
Without doubt, education, habit, and emulation, may 
contribute greatly in many cases to keep it up; but it will 
be generally found that, independent of these, Nature 
has stamped an original impression on certain minds, 
which education may greatly alter or efface, but seldom 
so entirely as to prevent its traces being seen by an 
accurate observer. How a certain character or consti- 
tution of mind can be transmitted from a parent to a 
child, is a question of more difficulty than importance. 
It is indeed equally difficult to account for the external 
resemblance of features, or for bodily diseases being 
transmitted from a parent to a child. But we never 
dream of a difficulty in explaining any appearance of 
nature which is exhibited to us every day. A proper 
attention to this subject would enable us to improve, not 
only the constitutions but the characters of our posterity. 
Yet we every day see very sensible people, who are 
anxiously attentive to preserve or improve the breed of 
their horses, tainting the blood of their children, and 

* Parents frequently live again in their offspring. It is quite cer- 
tain that children resemble their parents, not only in countenance 
and the form of their body, but also in their mental dispositions, in 
their virtues and vices, &c. 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 155 

entailing on them not only the most loathsome diseases 
of the body, but madness, folly, and the most unworthy 
dispositions, and this too when they cannot plead being 
stimulated by necessity or impelled by passion.' # 

A celebrated French writer, who has written much 
sound as well as raise philosophy, observes, that c physi- 
cal organization, of which moral is the offspring, trans- 
mits the same character from father to son through a 
succession of ages. The Apii were always haughty and 
inflexible, the Catos always severe. The whole line of 
the Guises were bold, rash, factious; compounded of the 
most insolent pride and the most seductive politeness. 
From Francis de Guise, to him who alone and in silence 
went and put Linlself at the head of the people of Naples, 
they were ail, in figure, in courage, and in turn of mind, 
above ordinary men. I have seen whole-length portraits 
of Francis de Gu;se, of the Balafre, of his son: they are 
all six feet high, with the same features, the same cou- 
rage and boldness in the forehead, the eye, and the atti- 
tude. This continuity, this series of beings alike, is still 
more observable in animals; and if as much care were 
taken to perpetuate fine races of men, as some nations 
still take to prevent the mixing of the breeds of their 
horses and hounds, the genealogy would be written in 
the countenance and displayed in the manners.' | 

Phrenology reveals the principle on which these phe- 
nomena take place. Mental talents and dispositions are 
determined by the size and constitution of the brain. 
The brain is a portion of our organized system, and, as 
such, is subject to the organic laws, by one of which its 
qualities are transmitted by hereditary descent. This 
law, however faint or obscure it may appear in individual 
cases, becomes absolutely undeniable in nations. When 
we place the collection of Hindoo, Carib, Negro, New 

* Comparative View, &c. 3d edit. Lond. 1766, pp. 18, 19. 
t Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary, art. Cato. 



156 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

Holland, North American, and European skulls, possess- 
ed by the Phrenological Society, in juxtaposition, we per- 
ceive a national form and combination of organs in each 
actually obtruding itself upon our notice, and correspond- 
ing with the mental characters of the respective tribes; 
the cerebral development of one tribe is seen to differ as 
widely from that of another, as the European mind does 
from that of the New Hollander. Here, then, each 
Hindoo, Chinese, New Hollander, Negro, and Carib, 
obviously inherits from his parents a certain general type 
of head; and so does each European. If, then, the gen- 
eral forms and proportions are thus so palpably trans- 
mitted, can we doubt that the individual varieties follow 
the same rule, modified slightly by causes peculiar to the 
parents of the individual? The differences of national 
character are equally conspicuous as those of national 
brains, and it is surprising how permanently both endure 
It is observed by an author in the Edinburgh Review, 
that e the Vicentine district is, as every one knows, and 
has been for ages, an integral part of the Venetian domi- 
nions, professing the same religion, and governed by the 
same laws, as the other continental provinces of Venice; 
yet the English character is not more different from the ' 
French, than that of the Vicentine from the Paduan; 
while the contrast between the Vicentine and his other 
neighbor, the Veronese, is hardly less remarkable.' — 
No. lxxxiv. p. 459. 

If, then, form, size, and constitution of brain, are 
transmitted from parents to children, if these determine 
natural mental talents and dispositions, which in their 
turn exercise the greatest influence over the happiness- 
of individuals through the whole of life, it becomes 
extremely important to discover according to what laws 
this transmission takes place. At the first aspect of the 
question, three principles present themselves to our con- 
sideration. Either, in the first place, the constitution 
and qualities of brain, which the parents themselves 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 157 

inherited at birth, are transmitted absolutely, so that the 
children, sex following sex, are exact copies, without 
variation or modification, of the one parent or the other; 
or, secondly, the natural and inherent qualities of the 
father and mother combine, and are transmitted in a 
modified form to the offspring; or, thirdly, the qualities 
of the children are determined jointly by the constitution 
of the stock, and by the faculties which predominate in 
power and activity in the parents, at the particular time 
when the organic existence of each child commences. 

Experience shows that the first cannot be the law; for, 
us often mentioned, a real law of nature admits of no 
exceptions, and it is well established, that the minds of 
children are not exact copies, without variation or modifi- 
cation, of those of the parents, sex following sex. Nei- 
ther can the second be the law, because it is equally 
certain that the minds of children, although sometimes, 
are not always, in talents and dispositions exact blended 
reproductions of those of the father and mother. If this 
law prevailed, no child would be a copy of the father, 
none a copy of the mother, nor of any collateral relation, 
but each would be invariably a compound of the two 
parents, and all the children would be exactly alike, sex 
alone excepted. Experience shows that this is not the 
law. What, then, does experience say to the third idea, 
that the mental character of each child is determined by 
the particular qualities of the stock, combined with those 
which predominated in the parents when its existence 
commenced. 

I have already adverted to the influence of the seock, 
and shall now illustrate that of the condition of the 
parents, when existence is communicated. 

A strong illustration, in the case of the lower animals, 
appeared in the Edinburgh Review, No. lxxxiv. p. 457. 

1 Every one conversant with beasts, 5 says the reviewer, 
1 knows, that not only their natural, but that many of 
heir acquired qualities, are transmitted by the parents 

14 



158 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

to their offspring. Perhaps the most curious example of 
the latter fact may be found in the pointer. 

* This animal is endowed with the natural instinct of 
winding game, and stealing upon his prey,, which he 
surprises, having first made a short pause, in order to 
launch himself upon it with more security of success 
This s$rt of semicolon in his proceedings, man converts 
into a full stop, and teaches him to be as much pleased at 
seeing the bird or beast drop by the shooter's gun, as at 
taking it himself. The stanchest dog of this kind, and 
of the original pointer, is of Spanish origin, and our own 
is derived from this race, crossed with that of the fox- 
hound, or other breed of dog, for the sake of improving 
his speed. This mixed and factitious race, of course, 
naturally partakes less of the true pointer character; that 
is to say, is less disposed to stop, or at least he makes a 
shorter stop at game. The factitious pointer is, however, 
disciplined, in this country, into stanchness ; and, what is 
most singular, this quality is, in a great degree, inherited 
by his puppy, who may be seen earnestly standing at 
swallows or pigeons in a farm-yard. For intuition, 
though it leads the offspring to exercise his parent's 
faculties, does not instruct him how to direct them. The 
preference of his master afterwards guides him in his 
selection, and teaches him what game is better worth 
pursuit. On the other hand, the pointer of pure Spanish 
race, unless he happen to be well broke himself, which 
in the south of Europe seldom happens, produces a race 
which are all but unteachable, according to our notions 
of a pointer's business. They will make a stop at their 
game, as natural instinct prompts them, but seem incapa- 
ble of being drilled into the habits of the animal, which 
education has formed in this country, and has rendered, 
as I have said, in some degree, capable of transmitting 
his acquirements to his descendants.' 

'Acquired habits are hereditary in other animals be- 
sides dogs. English sheep, probably from the greater 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 159 

richness of our pastures, feed very much together; while 
Scotch sheep are obliged to extend and scatter them- 
selves over their hills, for the better discovery of food. 
Yet the English sheep, on being transferred to Scotland, 
keep their old habit of feeding in a mass, though so little 
adapted to their new country; so do their descendants; 
and the English sheep is not thoroughly naturalized into 
the necessities of his place till the third generation. The 
same thing may be observed as to the nature of his food, 
that is observed in his mode of seeking it. When tur- 
nips were introduced from England into Scotland, it was 
only the third generation which heartily adopted this diet, 
the first having been starved into an acquiescence in it.' 

In these instances, long continued impressions on the 
parents appear to have at last effected change of disposi- 
tion in the offspring. 

1 We have seen,' says an author whom I have already 
quoted, c how wonderfully the bee works — according to 
rules discovered by man thousands of years after the 
insect had followed them with perfect accuracy. The 
same little animal seems to be acquainted with principles 
of which we are still ignorant. We can, by crossing, 
vary the forms of cattle with astonishing nicety; but we 
have no means of altering the nature of an animal, once 
born, by means of treatment and feeding. This power, 
however, is undeniably possessed by the bees. When 
the queen-bee is lost, by death or otherwise, they choose 
a grub from among those who are born for workers; they 
make three cells into one, and, placing the grub there, 
the^ build a tube round it; they afterwards build another 
cell, of a pyramidal form, into which the grub grows, 
they feed it with peculiar food, and tend it with extreme 
care. It becomes, when transformed from the worm to 
the fly, not a worker, but a queen-bee.' — Objects, Advan 
tages, and Pleasures of Science, p. 33. It is difficult to 
conceive that man will ever possess such a power as this 
ast. 



160 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

Man, however, as an organized being, is subject to 
laws similar to those which govern the organization of the 
lower animals. Dr. Pritchard, in his Researches into the 
Physical History of Mankind, has brought forward a va- 
riety of interesting facts and opinions on the subject of 
transmission of hereditary qualities in the human race. 
He says, ( Children resemble, in feature and constitution, 
both parents, but, I think, more generally the father. 
In the breeding of horses and oxen, great importance is 
attached, by experienced propagators, to the male. In 
sheep, it is commonly observed that black rams beget 
black lambs. In the human species, also, the complexion 
chiefly follows that of the father; and I believe it to be 
a general fact, that the offspring of a black father and 
, white mother is much darker than the progeny of a white 
father and a dark mother.' — Vol. ii. p. 551. These facts 
appear to me to be referable to both causes. The stock 
must have had some influence, but the mother, in all these 
cases, is not impressed by her own color, because she 
does not look on herself; while the father's complexion 
must strikingly attract her attention, and may, in this 
way, give the darker tinge to the offspring. # 

Dr. Pritchard states the result of his investigations to 
be, First, That the organization of the offspring is always 
modelled according to the type of the original structure of 
the parent; and, secondly, 'That changes, produced by 
external causes in the appearance or constitution of the 
individual are temporary; and, in general, acquired char- 
acters are transient; they terminate with the individual, 
and have no influence on the progeny.' — Vol. ii. p. 536. 
He supports the first of these propositions by a variety 
of facts occurring ' in the porcupine family,' c in the he- 
reditary nature of complexion,' and ' in the growth of 
supernumerary fingers or toes, and corresponding defi- 
ciencies.' c Maupertuis has mentioned this phenomenon 

* Black hens lay dark-colored eggs. 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 161 

tie assures us, that there were two families in Germany, 
who have been distinguished for several generations by 
six fingers on each hand, and the same number of toes 
on each foot,'&c. He admits, at the same time, that the 
second proposition is of more difficult proof, and that an 
opinion contrary to it has been maintained by some wri 
ters, and a variety of singular facts have been related in 
support of it. 5 But many of these relations, as he justly 
observes, are obviously fables. 

In regard to the foregoing propositions, I would ob- 
serve, that a manifest distinction exists between transmit 
sion of monstrosities, or mutilations, which constitute ad- 
ditions to, or abstractions from, the natural lineaments of 
the body, and transmission of a mere tendency in parti- 
cular organs to a greater or less development in point of 
size, and of energy in their natural functions. This last 
appears to me to be influenced by the state of the parents 
at the time when existence is communicated to the off- 
spring. On this point Dr. Pritchard says, £ The opinion 
which formerly prevailed, and which has been entertained 
by some modern writers, among whom is Dr. Darwin, 
that at the period when organization commences in the 
Ovum, that is, at or soon after the time of conception, the 
structure of the foetus is capable of undergoing modifica- 
tion from impressions on the mind or senses of the parent, 
does not appear altogether so improbable. It is contra- 
dicted, at least, by no fact in physiology. It is an opinion 
of very ancient prevalence, and may be traced to so re- 
mote a period, that its rise cannot be attributed to the 
speculations of philosophers, and it is difficult to account 
for the origin of such a persuasion, unless we ascribe it 
to facts which happened to be observed.' — P. 556. 

A striking and undeniable proof of the effect on the 
character and dispositions of children, produced by the 
form of brain transmitted to them by hereditary descent, 
is to be found in the progeny of marriages between Euro- 
Deans, whose brains possess a favorable development of 

14* 



162 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

he moral and intellectual organs, and Hindoos, and na- 
tive Americans, whose brains are inferior. All authors 
agree, and report the circumstance as singularly striking, 
that the children of such unions are decidedly superior 
in mental qualities to the native, while they are still in- 
ferior to the European parent. Captain Franklin says, 
that the half-breed American Indians i are upon the whole 
a good looking people; and, where the experiments have 
been made, have shown much expertness in learning, ana 
willingness to be taught; they have, however, been sadly 
neglected. 5 — P. 86. He adds, ' it has been remarked, 1 
do not know with what truth, that half-breeds show more 
personal courage than the pure breeds.* Captain Basil 
Hall, and other writers on South America, mention, that 
the offspring of native American and Spanish parents, 
constitute the most active, vigorous, and powerful portion 
of the inhabitants of these countries; and many of them 
rose to high commands during the revolutionary war. 
So much is this the case in Hindostan, that several writers 
have already pointed to the mixed race there, as obvious- 
ly destined to become the future sovereigns of India 
These individuals inherit from the native parent a certain 
adaptation to the climate, and from the European parent 
a higher development of brain, the two combined consti- 
tuting their superiority. 

Another example of the same law occurs in Persia. 
In that country, it is said that the custom has existed 
for ages among the nobles, of purchasing beautiful female 
Circassian captives, and forming alliances with them as 
wives. It is ascertained that the Circassian form of brain 
stands comparatively high in the development of the 
moral and intellectual organs. # And it is mentioned by 

* In Mr. W. Allan's picture of the Circassian Captives, the form of 
the head is said to be a copy from nature, taken by that artist, when 
he visited the country. It is engraved by Mr. James Stewart with 
great beauty and fidelity, and may be consulted as an example of th« 
superiority of Circassian development of the brain. 



FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS. 163 

some travellers, that the race of nobles in Persia is the 
most gifted in natural qualities, ' bodily and mental, of 
any class of that people; a fact diametrically opposite to 
that which takes place in Spain, and other European 
countries, where the nobles intermarry constantly w ; th 
each other, and set the organic laws altogether at dt 
fiance. 

The degeneracy and even idiocy of some of the noble 
and royal families of Spain and Portugal, from marrying 
nieces, and other near relations, is well known; and 
defective brains, in all these cases, are observed. 

Many facts illustrate the influence of the state of the 
parents, particularly of the mother, at the time when the 
existence of the child commenced, on its mental talents 
and dispositions.* 

The father of Napoleon Bonaparte, says Sir Walter 
Scott, ' is stated to have possessed a very handsome 
person, a talent for eloquence, and a vivacity of intellect, 
which he transmitted to his son.' c It was in the middle 
of civil discord, fights, and skirmishes, that Charles 
Bonaparte married Lsetitia Ramolini, one of the most 
beautiful young women of the island, and possessed of 
a great deal of firmness of character. She partook of 
the dangers of her husband during the years of civil war, 
and is said to have accompanied him on horseback on 
some military expeditions, or perhaps hasty flights, shortly 
before her being delivered of the future Emperor.'— Life 
of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. iii. p. 6. • 

The murder of David Rizzio was perpetrated by 
armed nobles, with many circumstances of violence and 
terror, in the presence of Mary, Queen of Scotland, 
shortly before the birth of her son, afterwards James the 
First of England. The constitutional liability of this 
monarch to emotions of fear, is recorded as a charac- 
eristic of his mind; and it has been mentioned that he 

* See Appendix, No. II. 



164 ON THE EVILS THAT BEFALL MANKIND 

even started involuntarily at the sight of a drawn s^ ord 
Queen m Mary was not deficient in courage, and the 
Stuarts, both before and after James the First, were 
distinguished for this quality; so that his dispositions 
were an exception to the family character. Napoleon 
and James form striking contrasts; and it may be re- 
marked that the mind of Napoleon's mother appears to 
have risen to the danger to which she was exposed, and 
braved it; while the circumstances in which Queen 
Mary was placed, were calculated to inspire her with 
fear alone. 

Farther evidence of the same law may still be men- 
tioned. Esquirol, the celebrated French medical writer, 
in adverting to the causes of madness, mentions that 
many children whose existence dated from periods when 
the horrors of the French Revolution were at their 
height, turned out subsequently to be weak, nervous, 
and irritable in mind, extremely susceptible of impres- 
sions, and liable, by the least extraordinary excitement, 
to be thrown into absolute insanity. A medical practi- 
tioner of Douglas, in the Isle of Man, mentions the 
following case: — A man's first child was of sound mind; 
afterwards he had a fall from his horse, by which his 
head was much injured. His next two children proved 
to be- both idiots. After this he was trepanned, and had 
other children, and they turned out to be of sound mind. 
A lady of considerable talent wrote as follows to a phre- 
nological friend: — c From the age of two I foresaw that 
my eldest son's restlessness would ruin him; and it has 
been even so. Yet he was kind, brave, and affectionate. 
I read the Iliad for six months before he saw the light, 
and have often wondered if that could have any influence 
on him. He was actually an Achilles.' # 

* This lady's head is large; in particular, the organs of Combative- 
ness, Self-Esteem, and Firmness, are very large ; those of Destruc- 
tiveness and Adhesiveness are large ; and the Temperament is very 
active. 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 165 

In a case which fell under my own observation, the 
father of a family had been sick, had a partial recovery 
but relapsed, declined in health, and in two months died 
Seven months after his death, a son was born, of the 
full age; and the origin of whose existence was referable 
to the period of the partial recovery. At that time, and 
during the subsequent two months, the faculties of the 
mother were in high excitement, in ministering to her 
husband, to whom she was greatly attached; and, after 
his death, the same excitement continued to operate, as 
she was then loaded with the charge f a numerous 
family, but not depressed; for her circumstances were 
comfortable. The son is now a young man; and, while 
his constitution is the most delicate, the development and 
activity of the mental organs are decidedly greater in 
him than in any other member of the family. 

Another illustration of the same law is found in the 
fact, that, when two parties marry very young, the 
eldest of their children inherits a less favorable develop- 
ment of the moral and intellectual organs, than those 
produced in more mature age. The animal organs in 
men, in general, are most vigorous in early life, and this 
energy appears to cause them to be then most readily 
transmitted to offspring. Indeed it is difficult to account 
for the wide varieties in the form of the brain in children 
of the same family, unless on the principle, that the 
organs which predominate in vigor and activity in the 
parents, at the time when existence is communicated, 
determine the tendency of corresponding organs to de- 
velope themselves largely in the children. Since the 
first edition of this work was prepared, so many facts 
illustrative of the truth of this principle, have been 
communicated to me, and observed by myself, that I now 
regard .it as probable. Several of these cases will be 
subsequently mentioned, and others will be found stated 
in the appendix. 

If this be really the law of nature, as there is great 

u 



166 ORGANIC LAWS. 

reason for believing, then parents, in whom Combative- 
ness and Destructiveness are in habitual activity, will 
transmit these organs, in a state of high development 
and excitement, to their children; and those in whom the 
moral and intellectual organs exist in supreme vigor, 
will transmit these in greatest perfection. 

This view is in harmony with the fact, that children 
generally, although not universally, resemble their pa- 
rents in their mental qualities; because the largest organs 
being naturally the most active, the general and habitual 
state of the parents will be determined by those which 
predominate in size in their own brains; and on the 
principle that predominance in activity and energy causes 
the transmission of similar qualities to the offspring, the 
children will, in this way, very generally resembie the 
parents. But they will not always do so; because, even 
very inferior characters, in whom the moral and intel- 
lectual organs are deficient, may be occasionally exposed 
to external influences which, for the time, may excite 
these organs to unwonted vivacity; and, according to the 
rule now explained, a child, dating its existence from 
that period, may inherit a higher organization of brain' 
than the parent. Or, a person with an excellent moral 
development, may, by some particular occurrence, have 
his animal propensities roused to unwonted vigor, and 
his moral sentiments thrown, for the time, into the shade, 
and any offspring connected with this condition," would 
prove inferior to himself in the development of the 
moral organs, and greatly surpass him in the size of 
those of the propensities. 

I repeat, that I do not present these views as ascer- 
tained phrenological science, but as inferences strongly 
supported by facts, and consistent with known pheno 
mena. If we suppose them to be true, they will greatly 
strengthen the motives for preserving the habitual supre- 
macy of the moral sentiments and intellect, when, by 
doing so, improved moral and intellectual capacities ma> 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 167 

be conferred on offspring. If it be true that this lower 
world is arranged in harmony with the supremacy of the 
higher faculties, what a noble prospect would this law 
open up of the possibility of man ultimately becoming 
capable ol j* lacing himself more fully in accordance with 
the divine institutions, than he has hitherto been able to 
do; and, in consequence, of reaping numberless enjoy- 
ments that appear destined for him by his Creator, and 
avoiding thousands of miseries that now render life too 
often only a series of calamities. The views here ex- 
pounded also harmonize with the second principle of this 
Essay, namely, That, as activity in the faculties is the 
fountain of enjoyment, the whole constitution of nature is 
designedly framed to support them in ceaseless action. 
What scope for observation, reflection, the exercise of 
moral sentiments, and the regulation of animal impulse, 
does not this picture of nature present! 

I cordially agree, however, with Dr. Pritchard, that 
this subject is still involved in great obscurity. ' We 
know not,' says .he, ' by what means any of the facts we 
remark are effected; and the utmost we can hope to 
attain is, by tracing the connection of circumstances, to 
learn from what combinations of them we may expect 'o 
Witness particular results.' — Vol. ii p. 542. Much of 
this darkness, however, may be traced to ignorance o c 
the functions of the brain. If we consider that, in rela- 
tion to mind, the brain has all along been the most 
important organ of our system; that mental impressions 
in the parents must almost necessarily have exercised a 
powerful influence over the development of the cerebral 
organs in the children, and. that the .relative size of the 
organs determines the predominance of particular talent3 
and dispositions; but that, nevertheless, all past observa- 
tions have been conducted without the knowledge of 
these facts; it will not appear marvellous that hitherto 
much confusion and contradiction have existed in the 
cases recorded . and in the inferences drawn from them 



168 ORGANIC LAWS. 

on this subject. At the present moment, almost all that 
phrenologists can pretend to accomplish is, to point out 
the mighty void; to offer an exposition of its causes, and 
to state such conclusions as their own very limited obser- 
vations have hitherto enabled them to deduce. Far from 
pretending to be in possession of certain and complete 
knowledge on this topic, I am inclined to think, that, 
although every conjecture now hazarded were founded 
in nature, centuries of observation might probably be 
necessary to render the principles fully practical. At 
present we have almost no information concerning the 
effects, on the children, of different temperaments, of 
different combinations in the cerebral organs, and of 
differences of age in the parents. 

It is astonishing, however, to what extent mere pecu- 
niary interests excite men to investigate and observe the 
Natural Laws, while moral and rational considerations 
appear to exert so small an influence in leading them to 
do so. Before a common insurance company will under- 
take the risk of paying £100, on the death of an indivi- 
dual, they require the following questions to be answered 
by credible and intelligent witnesses: — 

6 1. How long have you known Mr. A.-B. ? 

"2. Has he had the gout? 

* 3. Has he had a spitting of blood, asthma, consump- 
tion, or other pulmonary complaint? 

c 4. Do you consider him at all predisposed to any of 
these complaints? 

6 5. Has he been afflicted with fits, or mental derange- 
ment ? 

1 6. Do you think his constitution perfectly good, in 
the common acceptation of the term? 

* 7 . Are his habits in every respect strictly regular 
and temperate? 

1 8. Is he at present in good health? 
1 9. Is there any thing in his form, habits of living, or 
business, which you are of opinion may shorten his life ? 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 169 

* JO. What complaints are his family most subject to? 

c 11. Are you aware of any reason why an insurance 
night not with safety be effected on his life?' 

A man and woman about to marry, have, in the gene- 
rality of cases, the health and happiness of five or more 
human beings depending on their attention to considera- 
tions, essentially the same as the foregoing, and yet how 
much less scrupulous are they than the mere speculators 
in money? It is pleasing, however, to observe, that, in 
Wurtemberg, there are two excellent laws calculated to 
improve the moral and physical condition of the people, 
which other states would do well to adopt. First, ' It is 
illegal for any young man to marry before he is twenty- 
five, or any young woman before she is eighteen; and a 
young man, at whatever age he wishes to marry, must 
show to the police and the priest of the commune where 
he resides, that he is able, and has the prospect, to pro- 
vide for a wife and family.' The second law compels 
parents to send their children to school, from the age of 
six to fourteen. * \ 

There is no moral difficulty in admitting and admiring 
the wisdom and benevolence of the institution by which 
good qualities are transmitted from parents to children; 
but it is frequently held as unjust to the latter, that they 
should inherit parental deficiencies, and so be made to 
suffer for sins which they did n'ot commit. In treating of 
this difficulty, I must again refer to the supremacy of the 
moral sentiments, as the theory of the constitution of the 
world. The animal propensities are all selfish, and re- 
gard only the immediate and apparent interest of the 
individual; while the higher sentiments delight in that 
which communicates the greatest quantity of enjoyment 
to the greatest number. Now, let us suppose the law of 
hereditary descent to be abrogated altogether, that is to 
say, that each individual of the race were, at birth, en 

1 See Appendix, No. III. 
15 



170 



ORGANIC LAWS. 



dowed with fixed natural qualities, without the slightest 
reference to what his parents had been or done; — this 
form of constitution would obviously cut off every possi- 
bility of improvement in the race. Every phrenologist 
knows, that the brains of the New Hollanders, Charibs, 
and other savage tribes, are distinguished by great defi- 
ciencies in the moral and intellectual organs.* 

New Hollander. Charib. 





If, however, it be true that a considerable development 
of the intellectual organs is indispensable to the compre- 
hension of science, and the practice of virtue, it would, 
on the present supposition, be impossible to raise the 
New Hollanders, as a people, one step higher in capacity 
for intelligence and virtue than they now are. We 
might cultivate each generation up to the limit of its 
powers, but there the improvement, and a low one it 
would be, would stop; for the next generation, being 
produced with brains equally deficient in the moral and 
intellectual regions, no principle of increasing ameliora- 
tion could exist. The same remarks are applicable to 
every tribe of mankind. If we assume modern Euro- 
peans as the standard, then, if the law of hereditary 
descent were abrogated, every deficiency that at this 
moment is attributable to imperfect or disproportionate 
development of brain, would be irremediable, and con- 
tinue as long as the race existed. Each generation 
might be cultivated till the summit level of its capacities 
were attained, but there each succeeding generation 






* This fact is demonstrated by specimens in most Phrenological 
Collections. 13 in the above cut is the organ of benevolence. 



TRANSMISSION OP HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 171 

would remain. When we contrast with this prospect the 
very opposite effects flowing from the law of hereditary 
transmission of qualities in an increasing ratio, the whole 
advantages are at once perceived to be on the side of tho 
latter arrangement. According to this rule, the children 
of the individuals who have obeyed the organic, the 
moral, and the intellectual laws, will not only start from 
the highest level of their parents in acquired knowledge, 
but they will inherit a tendency towards an enlarged 
development of the moral and intellectual organs, and 
thereby enjoy an increasing capability of discovering and 
obeying the Creator's institutions. 

It appears to me that the native American savages, 
and native New Hollanders, cannot, with their present 
brains, adopt European civilization; and the same con- 
clusion seems to have been drawn by an intelligent 
missionary, from long continued and intimate observation 
of their mental qualities. Mr. Timothy Flint, a Presby- 
terian clergyman, who passed ten years, commencing in 
1815, in wanderings and preaching in the Valley of the 
Mississippi, says that he has - inspected the northern, 
middle, and southern Indians for a length of ten years, 
that he has been forcibly struck with a general resem- 
blance in their countenance, make, conformation, man- 
ners, and habits;' 'you may easily discover striking dif- 
ferences in their stature, strength, intellect, 1 acuteness, 
and consideration among themselves: but a savage of 
Canada, and he of the Rio del Norte, have substantially 
the same face, the same form, and, if I may say so, the 
same instincts. They are all, in my mind, unquestionably 
from a common stock.' ■ They have not the same acute 
and tender sensibilities with the other races of men. 
They seem callous to every passion but rage.' 'Their 
impassible fortitude and endurance of suffering, which 
have been so much vaunted, are, after all, in my mind, 
the result of a greater degree of physical insensibility. 
* No ordinary stimulus excites them to action. None of 



17 6 2 ORGANIC LAWS. 

the common excitements, endearments, or motives, ope- 
rate upon them at all. They seem to hold most of the 
things that move us in proud disdain. The horrors of 
their warfare, — the infernal rage of their battles, — the 
demoniac fury of gratified revenge, — the alternations of 
hope and despair in their gambling, to which they are 
addicted far beyond the whites, — the brutal exhilaration 
of drunkenness, — these are their excitements.' He con- 
cludes, ' It strikes me that Christianity is the religion of 
civilised man, that the savages must first be civilized, 
and that, as there is little hope that the present genera- 
tion of Indians can be civilized, there is but little more 
that they will be christianized.' 

The reader will find, in the Phrenological collections, 
specimens of the skulls of these savages; and, on com- 
paring them with those of Europeans, he will observe 
that, in the Indians, the organs of reflecting intellect, and 
of all the moral feelings, are greatly inferior in size to 
the same organs in the Europeans. The moral and intel- 
lectual organs are decidedly larger in the Sandwich 
Islanders than in the Indians, and they have received 
European civilization with greater cordiality and success. 
If, by obeying the organic laws, the moral and intellec- 
tual organs of the American savages could be considera- 
bly enlarged, they would desire civilization, and would 
adopt it when offered. If this view be well founded, all 
means used for their cultivation, which are not calculated 
at the same time to improve their cerebral organization, 
will be limited in their effects by the narrow capacities 
attending their present development. In youth, all the 
organs of the body are more susceptible of modification 
than in advanced age : and hence the effects of education 
on the young may arise from the greater susceptibility 
of the brain to impressions at that period than later. 
This improvement will, no doubt, have its limits; but it 
may probably extend to that point at which man will be 
capable of placing himself in harmony with, the natura 1 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES. 173 

laws. The effort necessary to maintain himself there> 
will still provide for the activity of his faculties. 

2dly, We may suppose the law of hereditary descent 
to be limited to the transmission'of good, and abrogated 
as to the transmission of bad qualities; and it may be 
thought that this arrangement would be more benevolent 
and just. There are objections to this view, however, 
which do not occur without reflection, to the mind. We 
see as matter of fact, that a vicious and debased parent is 
actually defective in the moral and intellectual organs. 
Now, if his children should take up exactly the same 
development as himself, this would be the transmission of 
imperfections, which is the very point objected to; or, If 
he were to take up a development fixed by nature, and 
not at all referable to that of the parent ; this would 
render the whole race stationary in their first condition, 
without the possibility of improvement in their capacities, 
which also we have seen would be an evil greatly to be 
deprecated; or, 

3dly. The bad development might be supposed to 
transmit, by hereditary 'descent, a good development: 
but this would set at nought the supremacy of justice and 
benevolence; it would render the consequences of con- 
tempt for, and violation of the divine laws, and of obe- 
dience to them, in this particular, precisely alike. The 
debauchee, the cheat, the murderer, and the robber 
would, according to this view, be able to look upon the 
prospects of his posterity, with the same confidence in 
their welfare and happiness, as the pious, intelligent 
Christian, who had sought to know God and to obey his 
institutions during his whole life. Certainly no indivi- 
dual, in whom the higher sentiments prevail, will for a 
moment regard this imagined change as any improvement 
on the Creator's arrangements. What a host of motives 
to moral and religious conduct would at once be with- 
drawn, were such a spectacle of divine government ex- 
hibited to the world! 

15* 



. 74 ORGANIC LAWS. 

4thly. It may be supposed that human happiness would 
have been more completely secured, by endowing all 
individuals at birth with that degree of development of 
the moral and intellectual orgarfs, which would have best 
fitted them for discovering and obeying the Creator's 
institutions, and by preventing all aberrations from this 
standard; just as the lower animals appear to have re- 
ceived instincts and capacities, adjusted with the most 
perfect wisdom to their conditions. Two remarks occur 
on this supposition. First, We are not competent at 
present to judge correctly how far the development 
actually bestowed on the human race is, or is not, wisely 
adapted to their circumstances; for there may, by possi- 
bility, be departments in the great system of human 
society, exactly suited to all existing forms of brain, not 
imperfect through disease, if our knowledge were suffi 
cient to discover them. The want of a natural index to 
the mental dispositions and capacities of individuals, and 
of a true theory of the constitution of society, may have 
hitherto precluded philosopher from arriving at sound 
conclusions on this question. It appears to me probable, 
that, while there may be great room for improvement in 
the talents and dispositions of vast numbers of individuals, 
the imperfections of the race in general may not be so 
great, as we, in our present state of ignorance of the 
aptitudes of particular persons for particular situations, 
are prone to infer. But, Secondly, On the principle that 
activity in the faculties is the fountain of enjoyment, it 
may be considered whether additional motives to the 
exercise of the moral and intellectual powers, and, con- 
sequently, greater happiness, are not conferred by leaving 
men (within certain limits) to regulate the talents and 
tendencies of their decendants, than by endowing each 
individual with the best qualities, independently of the 
conduct of his parents. 

On the whole, therefore, there seems reason for con- 
cluding, that the actual institution, by which both good 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES 176 

and bad qualities* are transmitted, is fraught with higher 
advantages to the race, than the abrogation of the law of 
transmission altogether; or than the supposed change of 
it, by which bad men would transmit good qualities to 
their children. The actual law, when viewed by the 
moral sentiments and intellect, both in its principles and 
consequences, appears beneficial and expedient. When 
an individual sufferer, therefore, complains of its opera- 
tion, he regards it through the animal faculties alone; 
his self-love is annoyed, and he carries his thoughts no 
further. He never stretches his mind forward to the 
consequences which would ensue to mankind at large, if 
the law which grieves him were reversed. The animal 
faculties regard nothing beyond their own immediate and 
apparent interest, and they do not even discern it cor- 
rectly; for no arrangement that is beneficial for the race 
can be injurious to individuals, if its operations in regard 
to them were distinctly traced. The abrogation of the 
rule, therefore, under which they complain, would, we 
may be certain, bring ten- thousand times greater evils, 
even upon themselves, than its continuance. 

On the other hand, an individual sufferer under here- 
ditary pain, in whom the moral and intellectual faculties 
predominate, who should see the principle and conse- 
quences of the institution of hereditary descent, as now 
explained, would not murmur at them as unjust; he 
would bow with submission to an institution, which he 
perceived to be fraught with blessings to the race, when 
t was known and observed, and the very practice of this 

* In using the popular expressions ' good qualities' and ' bad quali- 
ties,' I do not mean to insinuate, that any of the tendencies bestowed 
on man are essentially bad in themselves. Destructiveness and 
Acquisitiveness, for example, are in themselves essential to human 
welfare in this world, and, when properly directed, produce effects 
unquestionably good; but they become the sources of evil, when they 
are ill directed, which may result either from moral and intellectual 
ignorance, or from their organs being too large, in proportion to those 
of the superior sentiments and intellect. 



176 ORGANIC LAWS. 

reverential acquiescence would be so delightful, that it 
would diminish, in a great degree, the severity of the 
evil. Besides, he would see the door of mercy standing 
widely open, and inviting his return; he would perceive 
that every step which he made in his own person towards 
exact obedience to the Creator's institutions, would re- 
move by so much the organic penalty transmitted through 
his parent's transgressions, and that his posterity would 
reap the full benefits of his more dutiful observance. 

It may be objected to the law of hereditary transmis- 
sion of organic qualities, that the children of p, blind and 
lame father have sound eyes and limbs: But, in the 1st 
place, these defects are generally the result of accident 
or disease, occurring either during pregnancy, or poste- 
rior to birth, and seldom or never the operation of nature; 
and, consequently, the original physical principles re- 
maining entire in the constitution, the bodily imperfec- 
tions are not transmitted to the progeny. 2d, Where 
the defects are congenital or constitutional, it frequently 
happens that they are transmitted through successive 
generations. This is exemplified in deafness, of which I 
have cited several examples on page 152, in blindness, 
and even in the possession of supernumerary fingers or 
toes. The reason why such peculiarities are not trans- 
mitted to all the progeny, appears to be simply that, in 
general, only one parent is defective. If the father, for 
instance, be blind or deaf, the mother is generally free 
from that imperfection, and her influence naturally ex- 
tends to, and modifies the result in, the progeny. 

If the law of hereditary transmission of mental qualities 
be, as now explained, dependent on the organs in highest 
excitement in the parents, it will account for the varieties, 
along with the general resemblance, that occur in chil- 
dren of the same marriage. It will account also for the 
circumstance of genius being sometimes transmitted and 
sometimes not. Unless both parents possess the develop- 
ment of brain and temperament of genius, the law woulc 



TRANSMISSION OF HEREDITARY QUALITIES 177 

not certainly transmit these qualities to the children; and 
even although both did possess these endowments, they 
would be transmitted only on condition of the parents 
obeying the organic laws, one of which forbids that 
excessive exertion of the mental and coj^oreal functions, 
which exhausts and debilitates the system; an error 
almost universally committed by persons endowed with 
high original talent, under the present condition of igno- 
rance of the natural laws, and erroneous fashions and 
institutions of society. The supposed law would be 
disproved by cases of weak, imbecile, and vicious chil- 
dren, being born to parents whose own constitution and 
habits had been in the highest accordance with the 
organic, moral, and intellectual laws; but no such cases 
have hitherto come under my observation. 

Further, after birth, it is quite certain, that the organs 
most active in the parents have a decided tendency to 
cause an increase in the size of corresponding organs in 
the children, by habitually exciting and exercising them, 
which favors their growth. According to this law, ha- 
bitual severity, chiding and imperious conduct, proceed- 
ing from over-active Self-Esteem and Destructiveness in 
the parents, rouse the same faculties in the children, pro- 
duce hatred and resistance, and increase the. activity of 
the same organs, while those of the moral sentiments and 
intellect are left in a state of apathy. 

Rules, however, are best taught by examples; and I 
shall, therefore, proceed to mention some facts that have 
fallen under my own notice, or been communicated to me 
from authentic sources, illustrative of the practical con- 
sequences of infringing the law of hereditary descent. 

A man, aged about 50, possessed a brain, in which the 
animal, moral, and knowing intellectual organs, were all 
strong, but the reflecting weak. He was pious, but des- 
titute of education; he married an unhealthy young wo- 
man, deficient in moral development, but of considerable 
force of character; and several children were born. The 






178 MISERIES ARISING FROM 

father and mother were far from being happy; and, 
when the children attained to eighteen or twenty years 
of age, they were adepts in every species of immorality 
and profligacy; they picked their father's pocket, stole 
his goods, and gpt them sold back to him, by accom- 
plices, for money, which was spent in betting and cock- 
fighting, drinking, and low debauchery. The father was 
heavily grieved;. but knowing only two resources, he beat 
the children severely as long as he was able, and prayed 
for them; his own words were, that 'if, after that, it 
pleased the Lord to make vessels of wrath of them, the 
Lord's will must just be done.' I mention this last obser- 
vation, not in jest, but in great seriousness. It was 
impossible not to pity the unhappy father; yet, who that 
sees the institutions of the Creator to be in themselves 
wise, but in this instance to have been directly violated, 
will not acknowledge that the bitter pangs of the poor old 
man were the consequences of his own ignorance; and 
that it was an erroneous view of the divine administration, 
which led him to overlook his own mistakes, and to at- 
tribute to the Almighty the purpose of making vessels of 
wrath of his children, as the only explanation which he 
could give of their wicked dispositions. Who that sees 
the cause of his misery must not lament that his piety 
should not have been enlightened by philosophy, and di- 
rected to obedience, in* the first instance, to the organic 
institutions of the Creator, as one of the prescribed con- 
ditions, without observance of which he had no title to 
expect a blessing upon his offspring. 

In another instance, a man, in whom the animal organs, 
particularly those of Combativeness and Destructive 
ness, were very large, but with a pretty fair moral and in- 
tellectual development, married, against her inclination, 
a young woman, fashionably and showily educated, but 
with a very decided deficiency in Conscientiousness 
They soon became unhappy, and even blows were said to 
have passed between them, although they belonged to th< 



NEGLECT OF THE ORGANIC LAWS IN MARRIAGE. 179 

middle rank of life. The mother, in this case, employed 
the children to deceive and plunder the father, and, lat- 
terly, spent the produce in ardent spirits. The sons in- 
herited the deficient morality of the mother, and the ill 
temper of the father. The family fireside became a the- 
atre of war, and, before the sons attained majority, the 
father was glad to get them removed from his house, as 
the only means by which he could feel even his life in 
safety from their violence ; for they had by that time re- 
taliated the blows with which he had visited them in their 
younger years; and he stated, that he actually considered 
his life to be in danger from his own offspring. 

In another family, the mother possesses an excellent 
development of the moral and intellectual organs, while, 
in the father, the animal organs predominate in great ex 
cess. She has been the unhappy victim of ceaseless mis- 
fortune, originating from the misconduct of her husband 
Some of the children have inherited the father's brain, 
and some the mother's; and of the sons whose heads 
resembled the father's, several have died through mere 
debauchery and profligacy under thirty years of age; 
whereas those who resemble the mother are alive and 
little contaminated, even amidst all the disadvantages of 
evil example. 

On the other hand, I am not acquainted with a single 
instance in which the moral and intellectual organs pre- 
dominated in size, in both father and mother, and whose 
external circumstances also permitted their general activ- 
ity, in which the whole children did not partake of a moral 
and intellectual character, differing slightly in degrees of 
excellence one from another, but all presenting the decid- 
ed predominance of the human over the animal faculties. 

A lady possessing a large brain and active tempera- 
ment, was employed professionally as a teacher of music 
Her husband also had a fine temperament, and well con 
stituted brain, but his talents for music were only moder- 
ate. They had several children, all of whom were 



180 ORGANIC LAWS. 

produced while the mother was in the full practice of her 
profession, and they all now indicate superior musical 
abilities. They have learned to play on several instru- 
ments, as if by instinct, and promise to excel. In this 
case the original endowments of the mother, and her ac- 
tive exercise of them, conspired to transmit them to her 
children. 

There are other instances in which the character of 
particular children appears to bear relation to the condi- 
tion of the parents, or of one or other of them, at the time 
of their production. A friend told me that in his youth 
he lived in a country in which the gentlemen were much 
addicted to hard drinking; and that he, too frequently, 
took a part in their revels. Several of his sons, born at 
that time, although subsequently educated in a very dif- 
ferent or moral atmosphere, turned out strongly addicted 
to inebriety; whereas the children born after he had re- 
moved to a large town, and formed more correct habits, 
were not the victims of this propensity. Another individ- 
ual, of superior talents, described to me the wild and 
mischievous revelry in which he indulged at the time of 
his marriage, and congratulated himself on his subsequent 
domestication and moral improvement. His eldest son, 
born in his riotous days, notwithstanding a strictly mora^ 
education, turned out a personification of the father's 
actual condition at that time; and his younger children 
were more moral in proportion as they were removed 
from the period of vicious frolics. The mother, in this 
case, possessed a favorable development of brain. 

There are well-known examples of the children of reli- 
gious and moral fathers exhibiting dispositions of a very 
inferior description; but in all of these instances that I 
have been able to observe, there has been a large devel- 
opment of the animal organs in the one parent, which 
was just controlled, but not much more, by the moral and 
intellectual powers; and in the other parent, the moral 
organs did not. appear to be in large proportion. The 



* ORGANIC LAWS 181 

unfortunate child inherited the large animal development 
of the one, with the defective moral development of the 
other; and, in this way, was inferior to both. The way 
to satisfy one's self on this point, is to examine the heads 
of the parents. In all such cases, a large base of the 
brain, which* is the region of the animal propensities, will 
very probably be found in one or other of them. 

Another organic law of the animal kingdom deserves 
attention, viz. that hy which marriages betwixt blood re- 
lations tend decidedly to the deterioration of the physical 
and mental qualities of the offspring. In Spain kings 
marry their nieces, and, in this country, first and second 
cousins marry without scruple; although every philoso- 
phical physiologist will* declare that this is in direct 
opposition to the institutions of nature. This law holds 
also in the vegetable kingdom. 'A provision, of a very 
simple kind, is, in some cases, made to prevent the male 
and female blossoms of the same plant from breeding to- 
gether, this being found to hurt the breed of vegetables, 
just as breeding in and in does the breed of animals. It 
is contrived, that the dust shall be shed by the male 
blossom before the female is ready to be affected by it, 
so that the impregnation must be performed by the dust 
of some other plant, and in this way the breed be cross- 
ed.' — Objects, fyc. of Science, p. 33. 

On the same principle, it is found highly advantageous 
in agriculture not to sow grain of the same stock in con- 
stant succession on the same soil. In individual in- 
stances, if the soil and plants are both possessed of great 
vigor and the highest qualities, the same kind of grain 
may be reaped in succession twice or thrice, with less 
perceptible deterioration than where these elements of 
reproduction are feeble and imperfect; and the same fact 
occurs in the animal kingdom. If the first individuals 
connected in near relationship, who unite in marriage, 
are uncommonly robust, and possess very favorably de- 
veloped brains, their offspring may r >t be so much deter 
16 n 



183 CHOICE OP SERVANTS, &C. 

orated below the common standard of the country as to 
attract particular attention, and the law of nature is, in 
this instance, supposed not to hold; but it does hold, for 
to a law of nature there never is an exception. The off- 
spring are uniformly inferior to what they ivould have been, 
if the parents had united with strangers in blood of equal 
vigor and cerebrqj, development. Whenever there is any 
remarkable deficiency in parents who are related in 
blood, these appear in the most marked and aggravated 
forms in the offspring. This fact is so well known, and 
so easily ascertained, that I forbear to enlarge upon it. 
So much for miseries arising from neglect of the organic 
laws in forming the domestic compact. * 

I proceed to advert to those evils which arise from 
overlooking the operation of the same laws in the ordi- 
nary relations of society. 

How many little annoyances arise from the . miscon- 
duct of servants and dependents in various departments 
of life; how many losses, and sometimes ruin, arise from 
dishonesty and knavery in confidential clerks, partners, 
and agents. A mercantile house of great reputation, in 
London, was ruined and became bankrupt, by a clerk 
having embezzled a prodigious extent of funds, and ab- 
sconded to America; another company in Edinburgh, sus- 
tained a great loss by a similar piece of dishonesty; a 
company in Paisley was ruined by one of the partners 
having collected the funds, and eloped with them to the 
United States; and several bankers, and other persons, 
suffered severely in Edinburgh, by the conduct of an in- 
dividual, some time connected with the public press. It 
is said that depredations are constantly committed in the 
Post-offices of the United Kingdom, in spite of every ef- 
fort made to select persons of the best character, and of 
he strictest vigilance exercised over their conduct. If 

be true that the talents and dispositions^ individuals 
are indicated and influenced by the development of their 



CHOICE OF SERVANTS, &C. 



183 



)"ains, and that their actual conduct is the result of this 
development, and of their external circumstances^ includ- 
ing in the latter every moral and intellectual influence 
coming from without, it is obvious, that one and all of 
the evils here enumerated might, to a great extent, be ob- 
viated by the application of Phrenology. These misfor- 
tunes can be traced to the error of having placed human 
beings decidedly deficient in moral or intellectual qualities, 
in situations which demanded these in a higher degree 
than they possessed them; and any certain means by 
which the presence or absence of these qualities could be 
predicated, before their appointment, would go far to 
prevent the occurrence of the evils. The three following 
figures, for example, represent several of the organs most 
important in practical conduct in opposite states of devel- 
opment, and the dispositions of the individuals exactly 
corresponded with them. 
Mrs. H. 




John Gibson. 




15. Firmness small ; 16. Con- 
scientiousness large j 12. 
Cautiousness full. 



15. Firmness, and 16. Consci- 
entiousness both deficient: 
12. Cautiousness, and, 
Secretiveness, both largo 



D. Haggart. 




15. Firmness large ; 16. Con- 
scientiousness deficient ; 12* 
Cautiousness rather large. 



84 ORGANIC LAWS. 

If individuals having brains resembling those of Gibson 
and Haggart, both of whom were remarkable for dis- 
honesty, should be placed in situations of trust, in which 
temptations to deception and embezzlement should be 
presented to tfiem, which could be resisted only by strong 
sentiments of justice, their misconduct, sooner or later, 
would t>e almost certain, owing to the great size of their 
animal organs, and the deficiency of their organs cf 
Conscientiousness. I have seen so many instances of 
dishonest practices- in concomitance with similar combi- 
nations, that I cannot doubt of their connection. Where 
external circumstances remove from persons thus consti- 
tuted all temptation to pilfering, their deficient percep- 
tions of justice will still be discernible in the laxness of 
their notions of morality, in their treatment of inferiors, 
and in their general conduct. 

Again, if a person were wanted for any situation in 
which great decision of character, steadiness and perse- 
verance were necessary, and we selected a candidate 
whose brain, in the organ of Firmness, resembled that 
of Mrs. H., we should assuredly be disappointed. This 
lady was remarkable for vacillation of purpose; and I 

have never seen a single instance of decision of mind 

■ ■ i 
combined with such a defect of brain as is here repre- 
sented. These cases are introduced merely as examples 
and illustrations. The reader who wishes to pursue the 
subject farther, is referred to the common treatises on 
Phrenology and the Phrenological Journal, for additional 
information. 

If any man were to go to sea in a paper boat, which 
the very fluidity of the element would dissolve, no one 
would be surprised at his being drowned: and, in like 
manner, if the Creator has constituted the brain so as to 
exert a great influence over the mental dispositions, and 
if, nevertheless, men are pleased* to treat this fact with 
neglect and contempt, and to place individuals, naturally 
eficient in the moral organs, in situations where a great 



CHOICE OF SERVANTS, &,C 185 

degree of these sentiments is required, they have no 
cause to be surprised if they suffer the penalties of theii 
own misconduct, in being plundered and defrauded. 

Although I can state, from experience, that it is pos- 
sible, by the aid of Phrenology, to select individuals 
whose moral qualities may be relied on, yet, the ex- 
tremely limited extent of our practical knowledge in 
regard to the intellectual talents that fit persons for par- 
ticular duties, falls to be confessed. We must have seen 
a variety of combinations tried in particular departments 
and observed their effects, to be able to judge accurately 
what combination of natural talents and dispositions in 
an individual will best fit him for any given employment. 
It is impossible, at least for me, to anticipate with un- 
erring certainty, what these effects will be: but I have 
ever found nature constant ; and after once discovering, 
by experience, an assortment of qualities suited to a par- 
ticular duty, I have found no subsequent exception to the 
rule. Cases in which the predominance of particular 
regions of the brain, such as the moral and intellectual, 
is very decided, present fewest difficulties; although, even 
in them, the very deficiency of animal organs m.ay some- 
times incapacitate an individual for important stations. 
Where the three classes of organs, the animal, moral, 
and intellectual, are nearly in cequilibrio, the most opposite 
results may ensue by external circumstances exciting 
the one or the other to decided predominance in activity, 
and little reliance ought to be placed on individuals thus 
constituted, unless when temptations are removed, ana 
strong motives to virtue presented. 

Having now adverted to calamities by external vio- 
lence, — to bad health,-— unhappiness in the domestic 
circle, arising from ill advised unions, and viciously 
disposed children,- — to the evils of placing individuals, as 
servants, clerks, partners, or public instructers, in situa 
tions for which they are not suited, by their natura. 

16* 



186 ORGANIC LAWS. 

qualities, and traced all of them to infringements 01 
neglect of the physical or organic laws, I proceed to 
advert to the last, and what is reckoned the greatestof 
all calamities, death, and which itself is obviously a part 
of the organic law. 

In the introduction, page 7, to which I refer, I have 
stated briefly the changes which occurred in the globe 
before man was introduced to inhabit it. Baron Cuvier, 
after stating that the world we inhabit was at first fluid, 
and that highly crystalline rocks were deposited before 
animal or vegetable life began, has demonstrated, that 
then came the lowest orders of zoophytes and of vege- 
tables, — next fishes and reptiles, — and trees in vast for- 
ests, giving origin to our present beds of coal, then 
quadrupeds and birds, and shells and plants, resembling 
those of the present era, but all of which, as species, have 
utterly perished from the earth; that next came alluvial 
rocks, containing bones of mammoths, and other gigantic 
animals, and that last of all came man. # Dr. Buckland 
has shown that certain long, rounded, stony bodies, like 
oblong pebbles or kidney potatoes, scattered on the shore 
at Lyme Regis, and frequently lying beside the bones of 
the saurians, or lizard-like reptiles, there discovered, are 
the dung of these animals in a fossil state. Many speci- 
mens of them contained scales, teeth, and bones of fishes, 
that seem to have passed undigested through the body of 
he animals; just as the enamel of the teeth and frag- 
ments of bone are found undigested in the dung of the 
ravenous hyena. Similar fossils (scientifically named 
coprolites) are found also on the shore of the Frith of 
Forth, about a mile westward from Newhaven. These 
facts show that death or destruction of vegetable and 
animal life was an institution of nature before ma» 
became an inhabitant of the globe. 



* Cuvier'a Preface to his Ossemens Fossiles, and papers by Dr. 
Fleming in Chalmer's Journal. 



DEATH. 187 

Physiologists in general regard the organic frame of 
man also as containing within itself the seeds of dissolu- 
tion. * 'The last character,' says a popular author, 'by 
whieh the living body is distinguished, is that of termi- 
nating its existence by the process of death. The vital 
energies by which the circle of actions and reactions 
necessary to life is sustained, at length decline, and finally 
become exhausted. Inorganic bodies preserve their ex- 
istence unalterably and for ever, unless some mechanical 
force, or some chemical agent, separate their particles or 
alter their composition. But, in every living body, its 
vital motions inevitably cease sooner or later, from the 
operation of causes that are internal and inherent. Thus, 
to terminate its existence by death, is as distinctive of 
a living being as to derive its origin from a pre-existing 
germ.'* 

It is beyond the compass of philosophy to explain ivhy 
the world was constituted in the manner here represented. 
I therefore make no inquiry why death was instituted, 
and refer, of course, only to the dissolution of organized 
bodies, and not at all to the state of the soul or mind 
after its separation from the body. These belong to 
Revelation. 

Let us first view the dissolution of the body abstract- 
edly from personal considerations, as a mere natural 
arrangement. Death, then, appears to be a result of 
the constitution of all organized beings; for the very defi- 
nition of the genus is, that the individuals grow, attain 
maturity, decay, and die. The human imagination can- 
not conceive how the former part of this series of move- 
ments could exist without the latter, as long as space is 
necessary to corporeal existence. If all jiie vegetable 
and animal productions of nature, from creation down- 
wards, had grown, attained maturity, and there remained, 
ihis world would not have been capable of containing the 

"Animal Physiology, p 7, Library of Useful Knowledge. 



188 ORGANIC LAWS. 

thousandth part of them; so that, on this earth, decaying 
and dying appear indispensably necessary to admit of 
reproduction and growth. Viewed abstractedly, then, 
organized beings live as long as health and vigor con 
tinue; but they are subjected to a process of decay, 
which impairs gradually all their functions, and at lasl 
terminates in their dissolution. Now, in the vegetable 
world, the effect of this law is, to surround us *-with 
young, in place of everlasting stately full grown trees, 
standing forth in awful majesty, without variation in leaf 
or bough; — with the vernal bloom of spring, changing 
gracefully into the vigor of summer, and the flfaturity of 
autumn; — with the rose, first simply and delicately bud- 
ding, then luxuriant and lovely in its perfect evolution. 
In short, when we advert to the law of death, as institut- 
ed in the vegetable kingdom, and as related to our own 
faculties of Ideality and Wonder, which desire and 
delight in the very changes which death introduces, we, 
without hesitation, exclaim, that all is wisely and won- 
derfully made. Turning, again, to the animal kingdom, 
the same fundamental principle prevails. Death removes 
the old and decayed, and the organic law introduces in 
their place the young, the gay, and the vigorous, to tread 
the stage with renewed agility and delight. 

This transfer of existence may readily be granted to be 
beneficial to the young; but, at first sight, it appears the 
'opposite of benevolent to the old. To haveiivedat all, 
is felt as giving a right to continue to live; and the ques- 
tion arises, how can the institution of death, as the result 
of the organic law, be reconciled with Benevolence and 
Justice ? 

I am aware that theologically death is regarded as the 
punishment of sin, and that the attempt to reconcile our 
minds to it by reason is objected to as at once futile and 
dangerous to revelation. But I beg leave to observe 
that philosophers have established by irrefragable ev* 
dence, that before man was created, death prevailed 



DEATH. 189 

among the lower animals, not only by natural decay and 
the operation of physical forces, but by the express 
institution of carnivorous creatures destined to prey on 
living beings; that man himself is carnivorous, and ob- 
viously framed by the Creator for a scene of death; that 
his organic constitution, in its inherent qualities, implies 
death as its final termination; and that if these facts be 
admitted to be undeniable on the one hand, and we are 
prohibited^on the other, from pointing out, from the 
records of creation itself, the wise adaptation of the 
human sentiments and intellect to this state of things, 
neither the cause of revelation nor of reason can be 
.thereby benefitted. The foregoing facts can neither be 
disputed nor concealed; and the only effect of excluding 
the investigation on which I propose to enter, would be 
to close the path of reason, and to leave the constitution 
of the external world and of the human mind apparently 
in a state of contradiction to each other. Let us rather 
trust to the inherent consistency of all truths, and rely on 
all sound conclusions of reason being in accordance with 
every correct interpretation of Scripture. 

In treating of the supremacy of the moral sentiments, 
I pointed out, that the grand distinction between the 
sentiments and the propensities, consists in this, that the 
former are in their nature disinterested, generous, and 
fond of the general good, while the latter aim only at the 
welfare or gratification of the individual. It is obvious, 
that death, as an institution of the Creator, must affect 
these two classes of faculties in the most different manner. 
A being endowed only with propensities and intejlect, 
and enabled, by the latter, to discover death and its con- 
sequences, would probably regard it as an appalling 
visitation. It would see in it only the utter extinction of 
enjoyment to itself; for, although it perceived existence 
transferred to other beings, who would enjoy life after its 
removal from the scene, this would afford it no consola- 
on, in consequence of its wanting all the faculties which 



190 ORGANIC LAWS. 

derive pleasure from disinterestedly contemplating the 
enjoyments of other creatures. The lower animals, then, 
whose whole being is composed of the inferior pi open 
sities, and several knowing faculties, would probably see 
death, if they could at all anticipate it, in this light. It 
would appear to them, as the extinguisher of every 
pleasure which they had ever felt, and apparently the 
bare prospect of it would render their lives so wretched, 
that nothing could alleviate the depressing gloom with 
which an habitual consciousness of it would inspire them. 
But, by depriving them of reflecting organs, the Creator 
has kindly and effectually withdrawn from them this evil. 
He has thereby rendered them completely blind to its 
existence. There is not the least reason to believe, that 
any one of the lower animals, while in health and vigor, 
has the slightest conception that it is a mortal creature, 
any more than a tree has that it will die. In conse- 
quence, it lives in as full enjoyment of the present, as if 
it were assured of every agreeable sensation being 
eternal. Death always takes the individual by surprise, 
whether it comes in the form of violence, suppressing life 
in youth, or of slow decay by age; and really operates as 
a transference of existence from one being to another, 
without consciousness of the loss in the one which dies. 
Let us, however, trace the operation of death, in regard 
to the lower animals, a little more in detail. 

Philosophy, as already remarked, cannot explain why 
Death was instituted at first, but, according to the views 
maintained in this Essay, we should expect to find it con- 
nected with, and regulated by, benevolence and justice; 
that is to say, that it should not be inflicted for the sole 
purpose of'extinguishing the life of individuals, to their 
damage, without any other result; but that the general 
system under which it takes place should be, on the 
whole, favorable to the enjoyment not only of the race, 
but of each individual animal while life is given; and 
this accordingly is the fact. Violent death, and the 



DEATH. 1S 

devouring of one animal by another, are not purely 
benevolent, because pure benevolence would never inflict 
pain; but they are instances of destruction leading to 
beneficial results; that is, wherever death is introduced 
under the institutions of nature, it is accompanied with 
enjoyment or beneficial consequences to the very animals 
that are subsequently to become the subjects of it. 
While the world is calculated to support only a limited 
number of living creatures; — the lower animals have 
received from nature powers of reproduction far beyond 
what is necessary to supply the waste of natural decay; 
and they do not possess intellect sufficient to restrain 
their numbers within the limits of their means of subsis- 
tence. Herbivorous animals, in particular, are exceed- 
ingly prolific, and yet the supply of vegetable food is 
limited. Hence, after multiplying for a few years, ex- 
tensive starvation, the most painful and lingering of all 
deaths, and the most detrimental to the race, would 
inevitably ensue; but carnivorous animals have been in- 
stituted who kill and eat them; and by this means not 
only do carnivorous animals reap the pleasures of life, 
but the numbers of the herbivorous are restrained within 
such limits, that the individuals among them enjoy exist- 
ence while they live.* The destroyers, again, are limit- 
ed in their turn: The moment they become too numerous, 
and carry their devastations too far, their food fails them, 
and, in their conflicts for the supplies that remain, they 

* St. Pierre states this argument forcibly. — -' By their production 
without restraint,' says he, * creatures would be multiplied beyond all 
limits, till even the globe itself could not contain them. The preser- 
vation of every individual produced, would lead to the ultimate de- 
struction of the species. Some will answer, that the animals might 
live always, if they observed a. proportion suitable to the territory 
which they inhabited. But, according to this supposition, they must 
at last cease to multiply ; and then adieu to the loves and alliances 
the building of nests, and all the harmonies which reign in theii 
nature. 't 

t St. Pierre, Etude de la Nature, Paris, 1791, p. 17 



192 ORGANIC LAWS. 

extinguish each other, or die of starvation. Nature 
seems averse from inflicting death extensively by starva- 
tion, probacy because it impairs the constitution long 
before it extinguishes life, and has the tendency to pro- 
duce degeneracy in the race. It may be remarked, also, 
speculatively, that herbivorous animals must have existed 
m considerable numbers before the carnivorous began to 
exercise their functions, for many of the former must die, 
that one of the latter may live. If a single sheep and a 
single tiger had been placed together at first, the tiger 
would have eaten up the sheep at a few meals, and 
thereafter died itself of starvation. In natural decay, 
the organs are worn out by mere age, and the animal 
sinks into gradual insensibility, unconscious that dissolu- 
tion awaits it. Farther, the wolf, the tiger, the lion, and 
other beasts of prey, instituted by the Creator as instru- 
ments of violent death, are provided, in addition to 
Destructiveness, with large organs of Cautiousness and 
Secretiveness, that prompt them to steal upon their 
victims with the unexpected suddenness of a mandate of 
annihilation, and they are impelled also to inflict death 
in the most instantaneous and least painful method ; the 
tiger and lion spring from their covers with the rapidity 
of the thunderbolt, and one blow of their tremendous 
paws, inflicted at the junction of the head with the neck, 
produces instantaneous death. The eagle is taught to 
strike its sharp beak into the spine of the birds which it 
devours, and their agony endures scarcely for an instant. 
It has been objected, that the cat plays with the unhappy 
mouse, and prolongs its tortures; but the cat that does so, 
is the pampered and well fed inhabitant of a kitchen; the 
cat of nature is too eager to devour, to indulge in such 
luxurious gratifications of Destructiveness and Secretive- 
ness. It kills in a moment, and eats. Here, then, is 
actually a regularly organized process for withdrawing 
individuals of the lower animals from existence, almost 
by a fiat of destruction, and thereby providing for the 



DEATH. 193 

comfortable subsistence of the creatures themselves while 
they live, and thereafter making way for a succession of 
new occupants. 'Nature,' says St. Pierre, ' does nothing 
in vain, she intends few animals to die of old age; and I 
believe that she has permitted to none except man to run 
the entire course of life, because in his case alone can 
old age be useful to the race. What would be the ad- 
vantage of old animals, incapable of reflection, to a pos- 
terity born with instincts holding the place of experience; 
and how, on the other hand, would decrepit parents find 
support among offspring, which instinctively leave them 
whenever they are able to swim, to fly, or to run? Old 
age would prove to such creatures a burden; of which 
beasts of prey mercifully deliver them." 

Man, in his mode of putting the lower creatures to 
death, is not so tender as beasts of prey: but he might 
be so. Suppose the sheep to be guillotined, and not mal- 
treated before its execution, the creature would never 
know that it had ceased to live. And, by the law which 
I have already explained, man does not with impunity- 
add one unnecessary pang to the death of the inferior 
animals. In the butcher who inflicts torments on calves, 
sheep, and cattle, while driving them to the slaughter, 
and who puts them to death, in the way supposed to be 
most conducive to the gratification of his Acquisitiveness, 
such as bleeding them to death, by successive stages, 
prolonged for days to whiten their flesh, — : the animal 
faculties of Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self- 
Esteem, predominate so decidedly in activity, over the 
moral and intellectual powers, that he is necessarily 
excluded from all the enjoyments attendant on the supre- 
macy of the human faculties: He, besides, goes into society 
under the influence of the same base combination, and 
suffers at every hand animal retaliation; so that he does 
not escape with impunity for his outrages against the 
moral law. 

17 



194 ORGANIC LAWS. 

Here, then, we can perceive nothing malevolent in the 
institution of death, in so far as regards the lower ani- 
mals. A pang certainly does attend it; but while De- 
structiveness must be recognised in the pain, Benevolence 
is equally perceptible in its effects. 

I mentioned formerly, that the organic law rises above 
the physical, and the moral and intellectual law above 
the organic ; and the present occasion affords an addition- 
al illustration of this fact. Under the physical law, no 
remedial process is instituted by nature. If a mirror falls, 
and is smashed, it remains ever after in fragments; if a 
ship sinks, it lies still at the bottom of the ocean, chained 
down by the law of gravitation. Under the organic law, 
on the other hand, a distinct remedial process is estab- 
lished. If a tree is blown over, every root that remains 
in the ground, will double its exertions to preserve life ; 
if a branch is lopped off, new branches will shoot out in 
its place; if a leg in an animal is broken, the bone 
will reunite; — if a muscle is severed, it will grow to- 
gether; if an artery is obliterated, the neighboring 
arteries will enlarge their dimensions, and perform its 
functions. The Creator, however, not to encourage ani- 
mals to abuse this benevolent institution, has established 
pain as an attendant on infringement of the organic law> 
and made them suffer for the violation of it, even while 
he restores them. It is under this law that death has 
received its organic pangs. Instant death is not attended 
with pain of any perceptible duration; and it is only when 
a lingering death occurs in youth and middle age, that the 
suffering' is severe; dissolution, however, does not occur 
at these periods as a direct and intentional result of the 
organic laws, but as the consequence of infringement of 
them. Under the fair and legitimate operation of these 
laws, the individual whose constitution was at first sound, 
and whose life has been in accordance with their dictates 
will live till old age fairly wears out his organized frame 



DEATH. 195 

and then the pang of expiration is little perceptible * 
The pains of premature death, then, are the punishments 
of infringement of the organic law, and the object of that 
chastisement probably is to impress upon us the necessity 
of obeying them that we may live, and to prevent our 
abusing the remedial process inherent to a great extent in 
our constitution. 

Let us now view death as an institution appointed to 
man. If it be true, that the organic constitution of man, 
when sound in its elements, and preserved in accordance 
with the organic laws, is fairly calculated to endure in 
health from infancy to old age, and that death, when it 
occurs during the early or middle periods of life, is the 
consequence of departures from the physical and organic 
laws, it follows, that, even in premature death, a benevo- 
lent principle is discernible. Although the remedial pro- 
cess restores animals from moderate injuries, yet the very 
nature of the organic law must place a limit to it. If 
life had been preserved, and health restored, after the 



* The following table is copied from an interesting article by Mr. 
William Fraser, on the History and Constitution of Benefit or Friend- 
ly Societies, published in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal 
for October 1827, and is deduced from Returns by Friendly Societies 
in Scotland for various years, from 1750 to 1821. It shows how much 
sickness is dependent on age, and how little there is of it in youth 
even in the present disordered state of human conduct We may ex 
pect its quantity to decrease, at all ages, in proportion to the increase 
of obedience to the organic laws. 

Average Sickness for Each Individual. 





Weeks and 








Proportion of Sic* 


Age. 


Decimals. 


Weeks. 


Days. 


Hours 


Members 


Under 20 


0.3797 





2 


16 


1 in 136.95 


20-30 


0.5916 





4 


3 


1 ... 87.89 


30-40 


0.6865 





4 


. 19 


1 ... 75.74 


40-50 


1.0273 


1 





4 


1 ... 50.61 


50-60 


1.8806 


1 


6 


3 


1 .. 27.65 


60-70 


5.6337 


5 


4 


10 


1 ... 9.23 


Above 70 


16.5417 


16 


3 


19 


1 ... 3 14 



196 ORGANIC LAWS 

brain had been blown to atoms, by a bomb shell, as ef 
fectually as a leg that is broken, and a finger that is cut 
are healed, this would have been an actual abrogation of 
the organic law; and all the curbs which that law im- 
poses on the lower propensities, and all the incitements 
which the observance of it affords to the higher senti- 
ments, and intellect, would have been lost. The limit, 
then, is this, — that any departure from the law against 
whic'i restoration is permitted, shall be moderate in ex- 
tent, and shall not involve, to a great degree, any organ 
essential to life, such as the brain, the lungs, the stomach, 
or intestines. The very maintenance of the law, with all 
its advantages, requires that restoration from grievous 
derangement of these organs should not be permitted. 
When we reflect on the hereditary transmission of quali- 
ties to children, we clearly perceive benevolence to the 
race, in the institution which cuts short the life of an 
individual in whose person disease of essential organs has 
become so great as to have exceeded the limits of the 
remedial process; for the extension of the punishment of 
his errors over an innumerable posterity is thereby pre- 
vented. In premature death, then, we see two objects 
accomplished, first, the individual sufferer is withdrawn 
from agonies which could serve no beneficial end to 
himself; he has transgressed the limits of recovery, and 
prolonged life would be protracted misery; secondly, the 
race is guaranteed from the future transmission of his 
disease by hereditary descent. 

The disciple of Mr. Owen, formerly alluded to, who 
had grievously transgressed the organic law, and suffered 
a punishment of equal intensity, observed, when in the 
midst of his agony, — c Philosophers have urged the insti- 
tution of death, as an argument against divine goodness, 
but not one of them could experience, for five minutes, 
the pain which I now endure, without looking upon it as 
a most merciful arrangement. I have departed from the 
natural institutions, and suffered the punishment; but, in 



DEATH. 19/ 

death, I see only the Creator's benevolent hand, stretched 
out to terminate my agonies, when they cease to serve 
any beneficial end.' On this principle, the death of a 
feeble and sickly child is an act of mercy to it. It with- 
draws a being, in whose person the organic laws have 
been violated, from useless suffering; cutting short, there 
by, also, the transmission of its imperfections to posterity. 
If, then, the organic institutions which inflict pain and 
disease as punishments for transgressing them, are found- 
ed in benevolence and wisdom; and, if death, in the 
early and middle periods of life, is an arrangement for 
withdrawing the transgressor from farther suffering, after 
return to obedience is impossible, and protecting the race 
from the consequences of his errors, it also is in itself 
wise and benevolent. 

This, then, leaves only death in old age as a natural 
and unavoidable institution of the Creator. It will not 
be denied, that, if old persons, when their powers t>f 
enjoyment are fairly exhausted, and their cup of pleasure 
full, could be removed from this world, as we have sup- 
posed the lower animals to be, in an instant, and without 
pain or consciousness, to make way for a fresh and 
vigorous offspring, about to run the career which the old 
have terminated, there would be no lack of benevolence 
and justice in the arrangement. At present, while we 
live in habitual ignorance and neglect of the organic 
institutions, death probably comes upon us with more 
pain and agony, even in advanced life, than might be its 
legitimate accompaniment, if we placed ourselves in 
accordance with these; so that we are not now in a 
condition to ascertain the natural quantity of pain neces- 
sarily attendant on death. Judging from analogy, we 
may conclude, that the close of a long life, founded at 
first, and afterwards spent, in accordance with the Crea- 
tor's laws, would not be accompanied with great organic 
suffering, but that an insensible decay would steal upon 
the senses. 

17=* 



198 ORGANIC LAWS. 

Be this, however, as it may, I observe, in the> next 
place, that as the Creator has bestowed on man anima) 
faculties that fear death, and reason that carries home to 
him the conviction that he must die, it is an interesting 
***quiry, Whether he has provided any natural means of 
relief, from the consequences of this combination Ow 
terrors? * And what thinkest thou,' said Socrates to 
Aristodemus, c of this continual love of life, this dread 
of dissolution, which takes possession of us from the 
moment that we are conscious of existence ? ' * I think 
of it, 5 answered he, c as the means employed by the same 
great and wise artist, deliberately determined to preserve 
what he has made.' Lord Byron strongly expresses the 
same opinion, and is struck with the energetic efforts 
which he instinctively made in a moment of danger, to 
preserve his own life, although in his hours of calm 
reflection, he felt so unhappy that he wished to die. 
There are reasons for believing not only that the love of 
life is a special instinct, but that it is connected with a 
particular organ, which is supposed to be situate at the 
base of the brain, and that, cceteris paribus, the feeling 
varies in intensity in different individuals, according to 
the size of the organ. I have ascertained, by numerous 
confidential communications, as well as by observation, 
that even when external circumstances are equally pros- 
perous and happy, there are great differences in the 
desire of life in different minds. Some persons have 
assured me, that death, viewed even as the extinction of 
being, and without reference to a future state, did not 
appear to them at all appalling, or calculated, when con- 
templated as their certain fate, to impair the enjoyment 
of life; and these were not profligate men, whose vices 
might make them desire annihilation as preferable to 
Jture punishment, but persons of pure lives and pious 
dispositions. This expefience is so different from the 
feelings commonly entertained by ordinary p.ersons, that 
have been led to ascribe it to a very small development 



DEATH 19i* 

of the organ of the Love of Life in these individuals. 
A medical gentleman who was attached to the native 
army in India, informed me, that in many of the Hindoos, 
the love of life was by no means strong. On the con- 
trary, it was frequently found necessary to interpose force 
to compel them to make even moderate exertions, quite 
within the compass of their strength, to avoid death. 
That part of the base of the brain which lies between the 
ear and the anterior lobe, is generally narrow, measuring 
across the head, in such individuals. If there be an 
organ for the love of life, the vivacity of the instinct will 
diminish in proportion as the organ decays, so that age, 
which induces the certain approach of death, will, in a 
corresponding degree, strip him of his terrors. The appa- 
rent exceptions to this rule will be found in cases in which 
this organ predominates in size and activity, and preserves 
an ascendency over the other organs, even in decay. 

These ideas, however, are thrown out only as specula- 
tions, suggested by the facts before described. Whatever 
may be thought of them, it is certain that the Creator 
has bestowed moral sentiments on man, and arranged 
the whole of his existence on the principles of their 
supremacy; and these, when duly cultivated and enlight- 
ened, are calculated to withdraw from him the terrors of 
death, in the same manner as unconsciousness of its 
existence saves the lower animals from its horrors. 
The Moral Sentiments and Intellect perceive, 
1st, That Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and Ad- 
hesiveness, are provided with direct objects of gratifica- 
tion, in consequence of the institution of death. If the 
same individuals had lived here for ever, there would 
have been no field for the enjoyment that flows from the 
domestic union,, and the rearing of offspring. The very 
institution of these propensities prove, that producing and 
rearing young form part of the design of creation; and 
the successive production of young appears necessarily 
to imply removal of the old. 



200 ORGANIC LAWS. 

2d, All the other faculties would have been limited in 
their gratifications. Conceive, for a moment, how much 
exercise is afforded to our intellectual and moral powers, 
in acquiring knowledge, communicating it to the young, 
and ^n providing for their enjoyments; also, what a 
delightful exercise of the higher sentiments is implied in 
the intercourse between the aged and the young; all 
which pleasures would have been unknown, if there had 
been no young in existence, which there could not have 
been, without a succession of individuals. 

3d, Constituted as man is, the succession of individuals 
withdraws beings whose physical and mental constitutions 
have run their course, and become impaired in sensibility, 
and substitutes, in their place, fresh and vigorous minds 
and bodies, far better adapted for the^ enjoyment of 
creation. 

4th, If I am right in the position, that the organic 
laws transmit, in an increasing ratio, the qualities most 
active in the parents to their offspring, the law of succes- 
sion provides for a far higher degree of improvement in 
the race than could have been reached by the perma- 
nency of a single generation possessing the present 
human constitution. 

Let us inquire, then, how the moral sentiments are 
affected by death in old age, as a natural institution. 

Benevolence, glowing with a disinterested desire for 
the diffusion and increase of enjoyment, utters no com- 
plaint against death in old age, as a transference of 
existence from a being impaired in its capacity for useful- 
ness and pleasure, to one fresh and vigorous in all its 
powers, and fitted to carry forward, to a higher point of 
improvement, every beneficial measure previously begun. 
Conscientiousness, if thoroughly enlightened, perceives 
no infringement of justice in a guest, satiated with enjoy- 
ment, being called on to retire from the banquet, to per- 
mit a stranger with a keener and more youthful appetite 
o partake; and Veneration, when instructed by intellect 



DEATH. 201 

that this is the institution of the Creator, and made 
acquainted with its objects, bows in humble acquiescence 
.o the law. Now, if these powers have acquired, in any 
individual, that complete supremacy which they are 
clearly intended to hold, he will be placed by them as 
much above the terror of death as a natural institution, as 
the lower animals are, by being ignorant of its existence. 
And unless the case were so, man would, by the very 
knowledge of death, be rendered, during his whole life, 
more miserable than they. 

In these observations, I have said nothing of the pros- 
pects of a future existence as a palliative of the evils of 
dissolution, because I was bound to regard death, in the 
first instance, as the result of the organic law, and to 
treat of it as such. But mo one who considers that the 
prospects of a life to come, are directly addressed to 
Veneration, Hope, Benevolence, and Intellect, can fail to 
perceive that this consolation also is clearly founded on 
the principle, that supremacy in the sentiments is intend- 
ed by the Creator to protect man from its terrors. 

The true view of death, then, as a natural institution, 
is, that it is an essential part of the very system of organ- 
ization; that birth, growth, and arrival at maturity as 
completely imply decay and death in old age, as morning 
and noon imply evening and night, as spring and summer 
imply harvest, or as the source of a river implies its 
termination. Besides, organized beings are constituted 
by the Creator to be the food of other organized beings, 
so that some must die that others may live. Man, for 
instance, cannot live on stones, or earth, or water, which 
are not organized, but must feed on vegetable and animal 
substances; so that death is as much, and as- essentially, 
an inherent part of organization as life itself. If vege- 
tables, animals, and men, had been destined for a duration 
like that of mountains,— instead of creating a primitive 
pair of each, and endowing these with extensive powers 
of reproduction, so as to usher into existence young 



202 ORGANIC LAWS. 

beings destined to grow up to maturity by insensible 
degrees, we may presume, from analogy, that the Creator 
would have furnished the world with its definite comple- 
ment of living beings, perfect at first in ail their parts and 
functions, and that these would have remained, like hills, 
without diminution, and without increase. 

To prevent, then, all chance of being misapprehended, 
I repeat, that I do not at all allude to the state of the 
soul -or mind, after death, but merely to the dissolution of 
organized bodies; that, according to the soundest view 
which I am able to obtain of the natural law, pain and 
death in youth and middle age, in the human species, are 
consequences of departure from the Creator's laws; while 
t death in old age, by insensible decay, is a~n essential and 
apparently indispensable part of the system of organized 
existence ; that this arrangement admits of the succession 
of individuals, substituting the young and vigorous for 
the feeble and decayed; that it is directly the means by 
which organized beings live, and indirectly the means by 
which Amativeness, Philoprogenitiveness, and a variety 
of our other faculties obtain gratification; that it admits 
of the race ascending in the scale of improvement, both 
in their organic and mental qualities; that the moral 
sentiments, when supreme in activity, and enlightened by 
intellect, so as to perceive its design and consequences, 
are calculated to place man in harmony with it; while 
religion addresses its consolation to the same faculties, 
and completes what reason leaves undone. 

If the views now unfolded be correct, death, in old 
age, will never be abolished, as long as man continues an 
organized being; but pain and premature death will 
constantly decrease, in the exact ratio of his obedience to 
the physical and organic laws. It is interesting to ob- 
serve, that there is already some evidence of this process 
being actually in progress. About seventy years ago, 
i ables of the average duration of life, in England, were 
compiled for the use of the Life Insurance Companies* 



ORGANIC LAWS. 203 

and from them it appears, that the average duration of 
life was then 28 years; that is, 1000 persons being born, 
and the years which each of them lived being added to- 
gether, and divided by 1000, gave 28 to each. By recent 
tables, it appears that the average is now 32 years to 
each; that is to say, by superior morality, cleanliness, 
knowledge, and general obedience to the Creator's insti- 
tutions, fewer individuals now perish in infancy, youth, 
and middle age, than did seventy years ago. Some per- 
sons have said, that the difference arises from errors in 
compiling the old tables, and that the superior habits of 
the people are not the cause. It is probable that there 
may be a portion of truth in both views. There may be 
some errors in the old tables, but it is quite natural that 
increasing knowledge and stricter obedience to the or- 
ganic laws should diminish the number of premature 
deaths. If this idea be correct, the average duration of 
life should go on increasing; and our successors, two 
centuries hence, may probably attain to an average of 40 
years, and then ascribe to errors in our tables our low 
average of 32. # 

SECTION III. 

CALAMITIES ARISING FROM INFRINGEMENT OF THE 
MORAL LAW. 

We come now to consider the Moral Law, which is 
proclaimed by the higher sentiments and intellect acting 
harmoniously, and holding the animal propensities in 
subjection. In surveying the moral and religious codes 
of different nations, and the moral and religious opinions 
of different philosophers, every reflecting mind must 

* An interesting article on the l Diminished Mortality in England, 
appeared in the Scotsman newspaper, of 16th April 1828, which coin 
tides with the views of the text ; and, as it proceeds on scientific data 
it is printed in the Appendix, No. IV. 



204 . CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

have been struck with their diversity. Phrenology, by 
demonstrating the differences of combination in their 
faculties, enables us to account for these varieties of 
sentiment. The code of morality framed by a legislator, 
in whom the animal propensities were strong, and the 
moral sentiments weak, would be very different from one 
instituted by another lawgiver, in whom this combination 
was reversed In like manner, a system of religion, 
founded by an individual, in whom Destructiveness, 
Wonder, and Cautiousness were very large, and Vene- 
ration, Benevolence, and Conscientiousness deficient, 
would present views of the Supreme Being widely dis- 
similar to those which would be promulgated by a person 
in whom the last three faculties and intellect decidedly 
predominated. Phrenology shows, that the particular 
code of morality and religion, ivhich is most completely in 
harmony with the whole faculties of the individual, will 
necessarily appear to him to be the best, while he refers 
only to the dictates of his individual mind, as the standard 
of right and wrong. But if we are able to show, that the 
whole scheme of external creation is arranged in harmony 
with certain principles, in preference to others, so that 
enjoyment flows upon the individual from without, when 
his conduct is in conformity with them, and that evil 
overtakes him when he departs from them, we shall then 
obviously prove, that the former is the morality and re- 
ligion established by the Creator; and that individual 
men, who support different codes, must necessarily be 
deluded by imperfections in their own minds. That con- 
stitution of mind, also, may be pronounced to be the best, 
which harmonizes most completely with the morality and 
religion established by the Creator's arrangements. In 
this view, morality becomes a science, and departures from 
its dictates may be demonstrated as practical follies, 
injurious to the real interest and happiness of the indi- 
vidual, just as errors in logic are capable of refutation'to 
he satisfaction of the understanding. 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 205 

Dugald Stewart most justly remarked, that ' the impor- 
tance of agriculture and of religious toleration to the 
prosperity of states; the criminal impolicy of thwarting 
the kind arrangements of Providence, by restraints upor 
commerce; and the duty of legislators to study the laws 
of the moral world as the ground- work and standard of their 
own, appear, to minds unsophisticated by inveterate pre- 
judices, as approaching nearly to the class of axioms; — 
yet, how much ingenious and refined discussion has been 
employed, even in our own times, to combat the preju- 
dices which every where continue to struggle against 
them; and how remote does the period yet seem, when 
there is any probability that these prejudices will be 
completely abandoned. ' # The great cause of the long 
continuance of these prejudices, is the want of an intel- 
ligible and practical philosophy of morals. Before ordi- 
nary minds can perceive that the world is really governed 
by divine laws, it is obvious that they must become 
acquainted with, first, The nature of man, physical, 
animal, moral, and intellectual; secondly, The relations 
of the different parts of that nature to each other; and, 
thirdly, The relationship of the whole to God and external 
objects. The present Essay is an attempt, (a very feeble 
and imperfect one indeed,) to arrive, by the aid of phre- 
nology, at a demonstration of morality as a science. The 
interests dealt with in the investigation are so elevating, 
and the effort itself is so delightful, that the attempt 
carries its own reward, however unsuccessful in its re- 
sults. I am not without hope, that if phrenology, as the 
science of mind, and the doctrine of the natural laws, 
were taught to the people as part of their ordinary 
education, the removal of these prejudices would be 
considerably accelerated. 

Assuming, then, that, among the faculties of the mind, 
he higher sentiments and intellect hold the natural 



* Prelim. Dissert, to Sup. Ency. Brit. p. 127. 
18 



206 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

supremacy, I shall endeavor to show, that obedience to 
the dictates of these powers is rewarded with pleasing 
emotions in the mental faculties themselves, and with 
the most beneficial external consequences; whereas dis- 
obedience is followed by deprivation of these emotions, 
by painful feelings within the mind, and great external 
evil. 

First, Obedience is accompanied by pleasing emotions 
in the faculties. It is scarcely necessary to dwell on the 
circumstance, that every propensity, sentiment, and intel- 
lectual faculty, when gratified in harmony with all the 
rest, is a fountain of pleasure. How many exquisite 
thrills of joy arise from Philoprogenitiveness, Adhesive- 
ness, Acquisitiveness, Constructiveness, Love of Ap- 
probation, and Self-Esteem, when gratified in accordance 
with the moral sentiments; who that has ever poured 
forth the aspirations of Hope, Ideality, Wonder, and 
Veneration, directed to an object in whom Intellect and 
Conscientiousness also rejoiced, has not experienced the 
deep delight of such an exercise ? Or, Who is a stranger 
to the grateful pleasures attending an active Benevo- 
lence? Turning to the intellect, again, what pleasures 
are afforded by the scenery of nature, by painting, poetry, 
and music, to those who possess the combination of 
faculties suited to these studies? And how rich a feast 
does not philosophy yield to those who possess high 
reflecting organs, combined with Concentrativeness and 
Conscientiousness? The reader is requested, therefore, 
to keep steadily in view, that these exquisite rewards are 
attached by the Creator to the active exercise of our 
faculties, in accordance with the moral law; and that one 
punishment, clear, obvious, and undeniable, inflicted on 
those who neglect or infringe that law, is deprivation of 
these pleasures. This is a consideration very little at- 
tended to; because mankind, in general, live in such 
habitual neglect of the moral law, that they have, to a very 
oartial extent, experienced its rewards, and do not know 



INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. 207 

the enjoyment they are deprived of by its infringement. 
Before its full measure can be judged of, the mind must 
be instructed in its own constitution, in that of external 
objects, and in the relationship established between it and 
them, and between it and the Creator. Until a tolerably 
distinct perception of these truths is obtained, the facul- 
ties cannot enjoy repose, nor act in full vigor or har- 
mony: while, for example, our forefathers regarded the 
marsh fevers, to which they were subjected, from defi- 
cient draining of their fields, — and the outrages on person 
and property, attendant on the wars waged by the En- 
glish against the Scots, or by one feudal lord against 
another, even on their own soil, — not as punishments for 
particular infringements of the organic and moral laws, 
to be removed by obedience to these laws, but as inscru- 
table dispensations of God's providence, which it behoved 
them meekly to endure, but not to avert, — the full enjoy- 
ment which the moral and intellectual faculties were 
fairly calculated by the Creator to afford, could not be 
experienced. Benevolence would pine in dissatisfaction; 
Veneration would flag in its devotions; and Conscien- 
tiousness would suggest endless surmises of disorder and 
injustice in a scheme of creation, under which such evils 
occurred, and were left without a remedy: — in short, the 
full tide of moral, religious, and intellectual enjoyment 
could not possibly flow, until views, more in accordance 
with the constitution and desires of the moral faculties 
were obtained. The same evil afflicts mankind still to a 
prodigious extent. How is it possible for the Hindoo, 
Mussulman, Chinese, or the native American, while they 
continue to worship deities, whose qualities outrage 
Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness, — and 
remain in profound ignorance of almost all the Creator's 
natural institutions, in consequence of infringing which 
they suffer punishment v/ithout ceasing, — to form even a 
conception of the gratifications which the moral and intel- 
lectual nature of man is calculated to enjoy, when exer 



208 CALAMITIES ARISING PROM 

cised in harmony with the Creator's real character and 
institutions? This operation of the moral law is not the 
less real, because many do not recognise it. Sight is not 
a less excellent gift to those. who see, because some men 
born blind have no conception of the extent of pleasure 
and advantage from which the want of it cuts them off. 

The qualities manifested by the Creator may be infer- 
red from the works of creation; but it is obvious, that, to 
arrive a; *he soundest views, we would need to know his 
institutions thoroughly. To a grossly ignorant people, 
who suffer hourly from transgression of his laws, the 
Deity will appear infinitely more mysterious and severe 
than to an enlightened nation, who trace the principles 
of his government, in many departments of his works, 
and who, by observing his laws, avoid the penalties of 
infringement. The character of the Divine Being, under 
the natural system, will- go on rising in human apprehen- 
sion, in exact proportion as his works shall be understood. 
The low and miserable conceptions of God formed by the 
vulgar among the Greeks and Romans, were the reflec- 
tions of their own ignorance of natural, moral, and polit- 
ical science. The discovery and improvement of phre- 
nology must necessarily have a great effect on natural 
religion. Before phrenology was known, the moral and 
intellectual constitution of man was unascertained; — in 
consequence, the relations of external nature towards it 
could not be competently judged of; and, while these 
were involved in obscurity, many of the ways of Provi- 
dence must have appeared mysterious and severe, which 
in themselves were quite the reverse. Again, as bodily 
suffering and mental perplexity would bear a proportion 
to this ignorance, the character of God would appear to 
the natural eye in that- condition, much more unfavorable 
Jian it will after these clouds of darkness shall have 
passed away. 

Some persons, in their great concernment about a 
future life, are liable to overlook the practical direction 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 209 

of th< mind in the present. When we consider the 
nature and objects of the mental faculties, we perceive 
that a great number of them have the most obvious and 
undeniable reference to this life; for example, Amative- 
ness, Philoprogenitiveness, Combativeness, Destructive- 
ness, Acquisitiveness, Secretiveness, Cautiousness, Self- 
Esteem, and Love of Approbation, with Size, Form, 
Coloring, Weight, Tune, Wit, and probably other facul- 
ties, stand in such evident relationship to this particular 
world, with its moral and physical arrangements, that if 
they were not capable of legitimate application here, it 
would be difficult to assign a reason for their being be- 
stowed on us. We possess also Benevolence, Venera- 
tion, Hope, Ideality, Wonder, Conscientiousness, and 
Reflecting Intellect, all of which appear to be particularly 
adapted to a higher sphere. But the important considera- 
tion is, that here on earth these two sets of faculties are 
combined; and, on the same principle that led Sir Isaac 
Newton to infer the combustibility of the diamond, I am 
disposed to expect that the external world, when its con- 
stitution and relations shall be sufficiently understood, 
will be found to be in harmony with all our faculties, and 
of course that the character of the Deity, as unfolded by 
the works of creation, will more and more gratify our 
moral and intellectual powers, in proportion as knowledge 
shall advance. The structure of the eye is admirably 
adapted to the laws of light; that of the ear to the laws of 
sound; that of the muscles to the laws of gravitation ; and 
it would be strange if our mental constitution were not as 
wisely adapted to the general order of the external world 
The principle is universal, and admits of no exception, 
that want of power and activity in every faculty, is at- 
tended with deprivation of the pleasures attendant on its 
vivacious exercise. He who is so deficient in Tune that 
he cannot distinguish melody, is cut off from a vast source 
of gratification enjoyed by those who possess that organ 
a a state of vigor and highly cultivated; and the same 

18* 



210 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

principle holds in the case of every other organ ana 
faculty. Criminals and profligates of every description, 
therefore, from the very constitution of their nature, are 
excluded from great enjoyments attendant on virtue; 
and this is the first natural punishment to which they are 
inevitably liable. Persons also, who are ignorant of the 
constitutions of their own minds, and the relations be- 
tween external objects, not only suffer many direct evils 
on this account, but, through the consequent inactivity 
of their faculties, are, besides, deprived of many exalted 
enjoyments. The works of creation, and the character 
of the Deity, are the legitimate objects of our highest 
powers; and hence he who is blind to their qualities, 
loses nearly the whole benefit of his moral and intellec- 
tual existence. If there is any one to whom these grati- 
fications are unknown, or appear trivial, either he must, 
to a very considerable degree, be still under the dominion 
of the animal propensities, or his views of the Creator's 
character and institutions cannot be in harmony with the 
natural dictates of the moral sentiments and intellect. 
The custom of teaching children to regard with the high- 
est admiration the literature and history of the Greeks 
and Romans, stained with outrages on all the superior 
faculties of man, and diverting their minds away from the 
study of the Creator and his works, has had a most per- 
nicious effect on the views of this world, entertained by 
many excellent and intellectual individuals. This is truly 
preferring the achievements of barbarous men to the 
glorious designs of God; and we need not be surprised 
that no satisfaction to the moral sentiments is experienced 
while this course of education is pursued. 

But, in the second place, as the world is arranged on 
the principle of the supremacy of the moral sentiments 
and intellect, observance of the moral law is attended 
with external advantages, and infringement of it with 
posithe evil consequences; and from this constitution 
arises the second natural punishment of misconduct. 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 211 

Let us trace the advantages of obedient. — In the do- 
mestic circle; if we preserve habitually Benevolence, 
Conscientiousness, Veneration, and Intellect supreme, it 
is quite undeniable, that we shall rouse the moral and 
intellectual faculties of children, servants, and assistants, 
to love us, and to yield us willing service, obedience, and 
aid. Our commands will then be reasonable, mild, and 
easily executed, and the commerce will be that of love. 
With our equals, again, in society, what would we not 
give for a friend in whom we were perfectly convinced of 
the supremacy of the moral sentiments; what love, confi- 
dence, and delight, would we njot repose in him! To a 
merchant, physician, lawyer, magistrate, or an individual 
in any public employment, how invaluable would be the 
habitual supremacy of these sentiments! The Creator 
has given different talents to different individuals, and 
limited our powers, so that we execute any work best by 
confining our attention to one department of labor, — an 
arrangement which amounts to a direct institution of 
separate trades and professions. Under the natural laws, 
then, the ^manufacturer may pursue his calling with, the 
entire approbation of all the moral sentiments, for he is 
dedicating his talents to supply the wants of his fellow 
men; and how much more successful will he not be, if 
his every wish is accompanied by the desire to act benev- 
olently and honestly towards those who are to consume 
and pay for the products of his labor! He cannot gratify 
his Acquisitiveness half so successfully by any other 
method. The same remark applies to the merchant, the 
lawyer, and physician. The lawyer and physician whose 
whole spirits breathe a disinterested desire to consult, a3 
a paramount object, the interests of their clients and 
patients, not only obtain the direct reward of gratifj ing 
their own moral faculties, which is no slight enjoyment, 
but also reap a positive gratification to their Self-Esteem 
and Love of Approbation, in a high and well-founded 
reputation, and to their Acquisitiveness, in increasing 



212 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

emolument, not grudgingly paid but willingly offered 
from persons who feel the worth of the services bestowed 

There are three conditions required by the moral and 
intellectual law, which must all be observed to insure its 
rewards. 1st, The department of industry selected must 
be really useful to human beings: Benevolence demands 
this; 2d, The quantum of labor bestowed must bear a 
just proportion to the natural demand for the commodity 
produced: Intellect requires this; and 3d, In our social 
connections, we must imperatively attend to the organic 
law, that different individuals possess different develop- 
ments of brain, and in consequence different natural tal 
ents and dispositions, and we must rely on each, only to 
the extent warranted by his natural endowment. 

If, then, an individual have received, at birth, a sound 
organic constitution and favorably developed brain, and 
if he live^ in accordance with the physical, the organic, 
the* moral, and the intellectual laws, it appears to me that, 
in the constitution of the world, he has received an assur- 
ance from the Creator, of provision for his animal wants, 
and a high enjoyment in the legitimate exercise, of his 
various mental powers. 

I have already observed, that before we can obey the 
Creator's institutions we must know them; that the science 
which teaches the physical laws is natural philosophy; 
and that the organic^ laws belong to the department of 
anatomy and physiology: and I now add, that it is the 
business of the Political Economist to unfold the kinds 
of industry that are really necessary to the welfare of 
mankind, and the degrees of labor that will meet with a 
just reward. The leading object of political economy, 
as a science, is to increase enjoyment, by directing the 
application of industry. To attain this end, however,' it 
is obviously necessary that the nature of man, — the con- 
stitution of the physical world, — and the relations between 
these, should be known. Hitherto, the knowledge of 
he first of these elementary parts has been very deficient 



INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. ■ 213 

and, in consequence, the whole superstructure has been 
weak and unproductive, in comparison of what it may 
become, when founded on a more perfect basis. Political 
Economists have never taught that the world is arranged 
on the principle of supremacy of the moral sentiments 
and intellect — that consequently, to render man happy, 
his leading pursuits must be such as will exercise and gratify 
these powers, — and that his life will necessarily be misera- 
ble, if devoted entirely to the production of wealth. They 
have proceeded on the notion, that the accumulation of 
wealth is the summum bonum ; but all history testifies, that 
national happiness does not invariably increase in propor- 
tion to national riches; and until they shall perceive and 
teach, that intelligence and morality are the foundation of 
all lasting prosperity, they will never interest the great 
body of mankind, nor give a valuable direction to their 
efforts. 

If the views contained in the present Essay be sound, 
it will become a leading object with future masters in 
that science, to demonstrate the necessity that civilized 
man should limit his physical, and increase his moral and 
intellectual occupations, as the only means of saving him- 
self from ceaseless punishment under the natural laws. 

The idea of men in general being taught natural phi- 
losophy, anatomy, and physiology, political economy, and 
the other sciences that expound the natural laws, has 
been sneered at, as utterly absurd and ridiculous.* But 
I would ask, in what occupations are human beings so 



* It is pleasing to observe, that great progress has been made in 
appreciating the importance of the kind of education here recom- 
menced, since the first edition of this work was published. In 
Edinburgh an association of the industrious classes has been formed 
for obtaining instruction in useful and entertaining knowledge, and it 
has met with the greatest encouragement. Under its superintendence, 
lectures have been delivered on all the sciences enumerated in the 
text, to audiences consisting of both sexes, and with eminent success 
A notice of its constitution will be found in the Appendix, No. V 

P 



214 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

urgently engaged, that they have no leisure wo bestow on 
the study of the Creator's laws? A course of natural 
philosophy would occupy sixty or seventy hours in the 
delivery ; a course of anatomy and physiology the same ; 
and a course of phrenology can be delivered pretty fully 
in forty hours! These, twice or thrice repeated, would 
serve to initiate the student so that he could afterwards 
advance in the same paths, by the aid of observation and 
books. Is life, then, so brief, and are our hours so ur- 
gently occupied by higher and more important duties, 
that' we cannot afford these pittances of time to learn the 
laws that regulate our existence ? No ! The only diffi- 
culty is in obtaining the desire for the knowledge; fot 
when that is attained, time will not be wanting. No idea 
can be more preposterous, than that of human beings 
having no time to study and obey the natural institutions. 
These laws punish so severely, when neglected, that they 
cause the offender to lose tenfold more time in undergo- 
ing his chastisement, than would be requisite to obey 
them. A gentleman extensively engaged in business, 
whose nervous and digestive systems have been impaired 
by neglect of the organic laws, was desired to walk in 
he open air at least one hour a-day; to repose from all 
exertion, bodily and mental, for one full hour after break- 
fast, and another full hour after dinner, because the brain 
cannot expend its energy in thinking and in aiding diges- 
tion at the same time ; and to practise moderation in diet, 
which last injunction he regularly observed; but he laugh- 
ed at the very idea of his having three hours a-day to 
spare for attention to his health. The reply was, that 
the organic laws admit of no exception, and that he must 
either obey them, or take the consequences; but that the 
time lost in enduring the punishment would be double or 
treble that requisite for obedience; — and, accordingly, 
the fact was so. Instead of attending an appointment, it 
is quite usual for him to send a note, perhaps at two in 
the afternoon, in these terms: — C I was so distressed with 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW <2l5 

head-ache last night, that I never closed my eyes, and 
to-day I am still incapable of being out of bed.' On 
other occasions, he is out of bed, but apologizes for 
incapacity to attend to business, on account of an intoler* 
able pain in the region of the stomach. In short, if the 
hours lost in these painful sufferings were added together, 
and distributed over the days when he is able for duty, he 
would find them far outnumber those which would suffice 
for obedience to the organic laws — and with this differ- 
ence in the results: by neglect he loses both his hours 
and his enjoyment; whereas, by obedience, he would be 
rewarded by aptitude for business, and a pleasing con- 
sciousness of existence. 

We shall, however, understand the operation of the 
moral and intellectual laws more completely, by attend- 
ing to the evils which arise from neglect of them. 

I. Let us consider Individuals. At present, the al- 
most universal persuasion of civilized man, is, that happi- 
ness consists in the possession of wealth, power, and 
external splendor; objects related to the animal faculties 
and intellect much more than to the moral sentiments. 
In consequence, each individual sets out in the pursuit 
of these as the chief business of his life; and, in the ardor 
of the chase, he recognises no limitations on the means 
which he may employ, except those imposed by the mu- 
nicipal law. He does not perceive or acknowledge the 
existence of natural laws, determining not only the sour- 
ces of his happiness, but the steps by which it may be 
attained. From this moral and intellectual blindness 
merchants and manufacturers, in numberless instances, 
hasten to be rich beyond the course of nature; that is to 
sa/, they engage in enterprises far exceeding the extent 
of their capital, or capacity; they place their property in 
the hands of debtors, whose natural talents and morality 
are so low, that they ought never to have been entrusted 
with a shilling; they send their goods to sea without 
insuring them, or lea ;e them uninsured in their ware- 



216 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

houses; they ask pecuniary accommodation from other 
merchants, to enable them to carry on undue specula- 
tions, and become security for them in return, and both 
fall into misfortunes; or they live in splendor and extrava- 
gance, far beyond the extent of the natural return of their 
capital and talents, and speedily reach ruin as their goal. 
In every one of these instances, the calamity is obviously 
the consequence of infringement of the moral and intel- 
lectual law. The lawyer, medical practitioner, or proba- 
tioner in the church, who is disappointed in his reward, 
will be found erroneously to have placed himself in a 
profession for which his natural talents and dispositions 
did not fit him, or to have pursued his vocation under the 
guidance chiefly of the lower propensities; preferring 
selfishness to honorable regard for the interests of his 
employers. Want of success in these professions, ap- 
pears to me to be owing, in a high degree, to three 
causes. First, the brain may be too small, or constitu- 
tionally lymphatic, so that the mind does not act with 
sufficient energy to make an impression. Secondly, some 
particular organs indispensably requisite to success, may 
be very small, as Language, or Causality, in a lawyer — 
the deficiency of the first rendering him incapable of 
ready utterance, and that of the second, destitute of that 
intuitive sagacity, which sees at a glance the bearing of 
the facts and principles founded on by his adversary, so 
as to estimate the just inferences'that follow, and to point 
them out A lawyer, who is weak in this power, appears 
to his client like a pilot who does not know the shoals and 
the rocks. His deficiency is perceived whenever diffi- 
culty presents itself, and he is pronounced unfit to take 
charge of great interests; he is then passed by, and suf- 
fers the penalties of having made an erroneous choice of 
a profession. The third cause is predominance of the 
animal and selfish faculties. The client and the patient 
discriminate instinctively between the cold, pitiless, but 
pretending manner of Acquisitiveness and Love of Ap- 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW 217 

probation, and the unpretending genuine warmth of 
Benevolence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness; and 
they discover very speedily that the intellect inspired by 
the latter sees more clearly, and manages more success- 
fully, their interests, than when animated only by the 
former. The victim of selfishness either never rises, or 
quickly sinks, wondering why his merits are neglected. 

In all of these instances, the failure of the merchant, 
and the bad success of the lawyer and physician, are the 
consequences of having infringed the natural laws; so 
that the evil they suffer is the punishment for having 
failed in a great duty, not only to society, but to them- 
selves. 

II. Some of the Calamities arising from infringe- 
ment of the Social Law may next be considered. 

The greatest difficulties present themselves in tracing 
the operation of the moral and intellectual laws, in the 
wide field of social life. An individual may be made to 
comprehend how, if he commits an error, he should suffer 
a particular punishment; but when calamity overtakes 
whole classes of the community, each person absolves 
himself from all share of the blame, and regards himself 
simply as the victim of a general but inscrutable visita- 
tion. Let us then examine briefly the Social Law. 

In regarding the human faculties, we perceive that 
numberless gratifications spring from the social state. 
The muscles of a single individual could not rear the 
habitations, build the ships, forge the anchors, construct 
the machinery, or; in short, produce the countless enjoy- 
ments that every where surround us, and which are 
attained in consequence of men being constituted so as 
instinctively to combine their powers and skill, to obtain 
a common end. Here, then, are very great advantages 
resulting directly from the social law; but, in the next 
place, social intercourse is the means of affording direct 
gratification t€ a variety of our mental faculties. If we 

19 



218 

lived in solitude, the propensities, sentiments, and reflect- 
ing faculties, would be deprived, some ^of them absolutely, 
and others of them nearly, of all opportunities of gratifi- 
cation. The social law, then, is the source of the highest 
delights of our nature, and its institution indicates the 
greatest benevolence towards us, and wisdom in the 
Creator. 

Still, however, this law does not suspend or subvert 
the laws instituted for the regulation of the conduct of 
man as an individual. If an individual go to sea in a 
ship, the natural laws require that his intellectual facul- 
ties shall be instructed in navigation, and in the features 
of the coasts and seas which he shall traverse; that he 
shall know and avoid the shoals, currents, and eddies; 
that he shall trim his canvas in proportion to the gale] 
and that his animal faculties shall be kept so much under 
subjection to his moral sentiments, that he shall not 
abandon himself to drunkenness, sloth, or any animal 
indulgence, when he ought to be watchful at his duty. 
If he obey the natural laws, he will be safe; and if he 
disobey them he may be drowned. # It is obvious that it 
must be a small vessel, and bound only on a short voy- 
age, that could be managed by one man; for he must eat 
and sleep; and he could not perform these functions, and 
manage his sails at the same time. It is the interest, 
therefore, of individuals who wish to go to sea, to avail 
themselves of the social law, that is, to combine their 
powers under one leader; — by doing so, they may sail in 
a larger ship, have more ample stores of provisions, 
obtain intervals for rest, and enjoy each other's society 
If at the same time they fulfil the moral and intellectual 
laws, by placing in the situation of captain an individual 
fully qualified for the duty, they will enjoy the i > vard in 
sailing safely and in comfort; if they disregard these laws, 

* I waive at present the question of storms, which he could not 
foresee, as these fall under the head of ignorance of natural laws 
which may be subsequently discovered. 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 219 

and place an individual in charge of the ship, whose in- 
tellectual faculties are weak, whose animal propensities 
are strong, whose moral sentiments are in abeyance, and 
who, in consequence, habitually neglects the natural 
laws, they may suffer the penalty in being wrecked. 

I know it will be objected that the crew and p.assen- 
gers do not appoint the captain; but, in every case, ex- 
cept impressment in the British navy, they may go into, 
or stay out of, a particular ship, according as they dis- 
cover the captain to possess the natural qualities or not. 
This, at present, I am aware, ninety-nine individuals out 
of an hundred never inquire into; but so do ninety-nine 
out of an hundred neglect many other of the natural laws, 
and suffer the penalty, because their moral and intellec- 
tual faculties have never yet been instructed in the exist- 
ence and effects of these, or trained ta observe and obey 
them. But they have the power from nature of obeying 
them, if properly taught and trained; and, besides, I 
give this merely as an illustration of the mode of opera- 
tion of the social law. 

Another example may be given: By employing ser- 
vants, the labors of life are rendered less burdensome to 
the master; but he must employ individuals who know 
the moral law, and who possess the ^desire to act under 
it; otherwise, as a punishment for neglecting this requi- 
site, he may be robbed, cheated, or murdered. Phreno- 
logy presents the means of observing this law, in a degree 
quite unattainable without it, by the facility which it af- 
fords of discovering the natural talents and dispositions 
of individuals. 

By entering into copartnerships, merchants and other 
persons in business may extend their employment, and 
gain advantages beyond those they could reap if laboring 
as individuals. But, by the natural law, each mast take 
care that his partner knows, and is inclined to obey, the 
moral and intellectual laws, as the only condition on 
which the Creator will permit him securely to reap the 



220 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

advantages of the social compact. If a partner in China 
be deficient in intellect and moral sentiment, another in 
London may be utterly ruined. It is said that this is an 
example of the innocent suffering for, or at least along 
with, the guilty; but it is not so. It is an example of a 
person seeking to obtain the advantages of the social law, 
without conceiving himself bound to obey the conditions 
required by it; the first of which is, that those individuals 
of whose services he avails himself, shall be capable and 
willing to observe the moral and intellectual laws. 

Let us now advert to the calamities which overtake 
whole classes of men, or communities, under the social 
law, — trace their origin, and see how -far they are attri- 
butable to infringement of the Creator's laws. 

If I am right in representing the whole faculties of man 
as intended by the Creator to be gratified, and the moral 
sentiments and intellect as the higher and directing pow- 
ers, with which all natural institutions are in harmony; 
it follows, that if large communities of men, in their sys- 
tematic conduct, habitually seek the gratification of the 
inferior propensities, and allow either no part, or too 
small and inadequate a part, of their time to be devoted 
to the regular employment of the higher powers, they 
will act in direct opposition to the natural institutions* 
and will, of course, suffer the punishment in sorrow and 
disappointment. Now, to confine ourselves to our owp 
country, it is certain that, until within these few years, the 
laboring population of Britain were not taught that it was 
any part of their duty, as rational creatures, to restrain 
their propensities, so as not to multiply their numbers 
beyond the demand for their labors and the supply of food 
for their offspring; and up to the present hour this most 
obvious and important doctrine is not admitted by one in 
a thousand, and not acted upon as a practical principle 
u y one in ten thousand of those whose happiness or 
*uisery depends on observance of it. The doctrine of 
MiLTHus, that 'population cannot go on perpetually 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 22* 

increasing, without pressing on the limits of the means of 
subsistence, and that a check of some kind or other must 
sooner or later, be opposed to it,' just amounts to this,— 
that the means of subsistence are not susceptible of sucl 
rapid and unlimited increase as population, anr* n conse 
quence that the Amative propensity must be restrained 
by reason, otherwise it will be checked by misery. This 
principle is in accordance with the views of human natun 
maintained in this Essay, and applies to all the faculties 
Thus Philoprogenitiveness, when indulged in opposition 
to reason, leads to spoiling children, which is followed 
directly by misery both to them and to their parents. 
Acquisitiveness, when uncontrolled by reason, leads to 
avarice or theft, and these again carry suffering in their 
train. 

But so far from attending to such views, the lives of 
the inhabitants of Britain generally are devoted to the 
acquisition of wealth, of power and distinction, or of 
animal pleasure: in other words, the great object of the 
aboring classes, is to live and gratify the inferior pro- 
pensities; of the mercantile and manufacturing popula- 
tion, to gratify Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem; of the 
>more intelligent class of gentlemen, to gratify Self-Esteem 
and Love of Approbation, in political, literary, or philo- 
sophical eminence; and of another portion, to gratify 
Love of Approbation, by supremacy in fashion— and these 
gratifications are sought by means not in accordance 
with the dictates of the higher sentiments, but by the 
joint aid of the intellect and propensities. If the supre- 
macy of moral sentiment and intellect be the natural law, 
then, as often observed, every circumstance connected 
with human life must be in harmony with it; that is to 
say, first, After rational restraint on population, and the 
proper use of machinery, such moderate labor as will 
leave ample time for the systematic exercise of the higher 
powers, will suffice to provide for human wants; and, 
uecondly, If this exercise be neglected, and the time 

19* 



222 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

which ought to be dedicated to it be employed in labor to 
gratify the propensities, direct evil will ensue; and this 
accordingly appears to me to be really the result. 

By means of machinery, and the aids derived from 
science, the ground can be cultivated, and every imagin- 
able necessary and luxury produced in ample abundance, 
at a moderate expenditure of labor by any population 
not in itself superabundant. If men were to stop when- 
ever they had reached this point, and dedicate the resi- 
due of each day to moral and intellectual pursuits, the - 
consequence would be, ready and steady, because not 
overstocked, markets. Labor, pursued till it provided 
abundance, but not superfluity, would meet with a certain 
and just reward, and would also yield a vast increase of 
happiness; for no joy equals that which springs from the 
moral sentiments and intellect excited by the contempla- 
tion, pursuit, and observance, of the Creator's institu- 
tions. Farther, morality would be improved; for men, 
being happy, would cease to be vicious; and, lastly, 
there would be improvement in the organic, moral, and 
intellectual capabilities of the race; for the active moral 
and intellectual organs- in the parents would tend to in- 
crease the volume of these in their offspring; so that each - * 
generation would start not only with greater stores of 
acquired knowledge than its predecessors possessed, but 
with higher natural capabilities of turning them to ac- 
count. 

Before merchants and manufacturers can be expected 
to act in this manner, a great change must be effected in 
their sentiments and perceptions; but so was a striking 
revolution effected in the ideas and practices of the ten- 
antry west of Edinburgh, when they removed the stag- 
nant pools between each ridge of land, and banished ague 
from their district. If any reader will compare the state 
of Scotland during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth 
centuries, correctly and spiritedly represented in Sii* 
Walter Scott's Tales of a Grandfather, with its presen* 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 223 

condition, in regard to knowledge, morality, religion, and 
the comparative ascendency of the rational over the 
animal part of our nature, he will perceive so great an 
improvement in later times, that the commencement of 
the millennium itself, in five or six hundred years hence, 
would scarce be a greater advance beyond the present, 
than the present is over the past. If the laws of the 
Creator be really what are here represented, and if they 
were once taught as elementary truths to every class of 
the community, and the sentiment of Veneration called 
in to enforce obedience to them, a set of new motives and 
principles would be brought into play, calculated to ac- 
celerate the change ; especially if it were seen, what, in 
the next place, I proceed to show, that the consequences 
of neglecting these laws are the most serious visitations 
of suffering that can well be imagined. If the views ad- 
vocated in this work be correct, the system on which the 
manufactures of Britain are at present conducted, is as 
great an aberration from the laws of nature as the history 
of the world has ever presented. -It implies not only that 
the vast body of the people shall for ever remain in a 
condition little superior to that of mere working animals, 
in order that, by means of cheap labor, our traders may 
undersell the merchants of all other nations; but also that 
our manufactures and commerce shall enjoy an indefinite 
extension — this being essential to their prosperity, as now 
conducted, although, in the nature of things, impossible. 
On the 13th May 1830, Mr. Slaney, M. P. called the 
attention of the House of Commons to ' the increase 
which had taken place in the number of those employed 
in manufacturing and mechanical occupations, as com- 
pared with the agricultural class. 5 He stated, that, 'in 
England, the former, as compared with the latter, were 6 
to 5 in 1801 ; they were as 8 to 5 in 1821 ; and, taking 
the increase of population to have proceeded in the same 
ratio, they were now as 2 to 1. In Scotland the increase 
had been still more extraordinary. In that country they 



224 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM * 

were as 5 to 6 in 1801 ; as 9 to 6 in 1821 ; and now they 
were as 2 to 1. The increase in the general population 
during the last twenty years had been 30 per cent. ; in 
the manufacturing population it had been 40 per cent. ; in 
Manchester, Coventry, Liverpool, and Birmingham, the 
increase had been 50 per cent. ; in Leeds it had been 54 
per cent.; in Glasgow, it had been 100 per cent. 5 Here 
we perceive that a vast population has been called into 
existence, and trained to manufacturing industry. I do 
not doubt that the skill and labor of this portion of the 
people have greatly contributed to the wealth of the 
nation; but I fear that the happiness of the laborious indi- 
viduals who have conferred this boon, has not kept pace 
with the riches which they have created. The causes of 
this circumstance appear to be the following: — 

Several millions of human beings have been trained to 
manufactures, and are unfit for any other occupation. 
In consequence of the rapid increase of their numbers, 
and of vast improvements in machinery, the supply of la- 
bor has, for many years, outstripped the demand for it, 
and wages have fallen ruinously low. By a coincidence 
which at first sight appears unfortunate, much of the 
machinery of modern invention may be managed by 
children. The parent, who by his own labor for twelve 
hours a-day, is able to earn only seven shillings a week, 
adds to his income one shilling and sixpence or two shil- 
lings a week, for each child whom he can send to the 
manufactory; and, by the united wages of the family, a 
moderate subsistence may be eked out. Both parents 
and children, however, are reduced to a hopeless-condi- 
tion of toil; for their hours of labor are so long, and their 
remuneration is so small, that starvation stares each of 
them in the face when they either relax from exertion or 
cease to live in combination. Mental culture, and moral 
and intellectual enjoyment are excluded, and their place 
supplied by penury and labor. Dr. Chalmers reports, 
that in our great towns whole masses of this class of the 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 225 

people are living in profound ignorance and practical 
heathenism. The system tends constantly to increase 
the evils of which it is the source. Young persons, when 
they arrive at manhood, find themselves scarcely able 
to subsist by their individual exertions; whereas, if they 
can add the scanty income of three or four children to 
their own, their condition is, in some degree, improved. 
House-rent, and the expenses of furniture and fuel, are 
not increased by the wants, — in proportion to the contri- 
butions — of the young. Adults are thus tempted — nay, 
almost driven by necessity — to contract early marriages, 
to rear a numerous offspring, devoted to the same em- 
ployments with themselves, and in this way to add to the 
supply of labor, already in excess. The children grow 
up, and in their turn follow the same course; and thus, 
however widely the manufactures of Britain may have 
extended, a still farther, and indeed an indefinite exten- 
sion of them seems to be demanded ; for the system pro- 
duces a constantly increasing, yet ignorant, starving, and 
miserable population, more than adequate to the supply 
of all the labor that can be profitably expended. The 
consequence is, that markets are overstocked with pro- 
duce; prices first fall ruinously low; the operatives are 
then thrown idle, and left in destitution, until the surplus 
produce of their formerly excessive labors, and perhaps 
something more, are consumed; after this, prices rise too 
high in consequence of the supply falling rather below the 
demand; the laborers then resume their toil, on their 
former system of excessive exertion; they again overstock 
the market; are again thrown idle, and suffer dreadful 
misery. 

In 1825 — 6 — 7, this operation of the natural laws was 
strikingly exhibited; large bodies of starving and unem- 
ployed laborers were supported on charity. How many 
hours did they not stand idle, and how much of excessive 
toil would not these hours have relieved, if distributed 
over the periods when they were overworked! There- 



226 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

suits of that excessive exertion were seen in the form of 
untenanted houses and of shapeless piles of goods decay* 
mg in warehouses — in short, in every form in which mis- 
applied industry could go to ruin. These observations 
are strikingly illustrated by the following official report 

' State of the Unemployed Operatives resident in Edinburgh, who are 
supplied with work by a Committee constituted for that purpose, 
according to a list made up on Wednesday, the 14th March 1827. 

1 The number of unemployed operatives who have been remitted by 
the Committee for work, up to the 14th of March, are - - 1481 

' And the number of cases they have rejected, after having 
been particularly investigated, for being bad characters, giv- 
ing in false statements, or being only a short time out of 
work, &c. &c. are - ..*..... 446 



Making together, 1927 

' Besides those, several hundreds have been rejected by the Com- 
mittee, as, from the applicants' own statements, they were not consider- 
ed as cases entitled to receive relief, and were not, therefore, remitted 
for investigation. 

1 The wages allowed is 5s. per week, with a peck of meal to those 
who have families. Some youths are only allowed 3s. of wages. 

i The particular occupations of those sent to work are as follows : — 
242 masons, 634 laborers, 66 joiners, 19 plasterers, 76 sawyers, 19 sla- 
ters, 45 smiths, 40 painters, 36 tailors, 55 shoemakers, 20 gardeners, 
229 various trades. Total 1481.' 

Edinburgh is not a manufacturing city, and if so much 
misery existed in it in proportion to its population, what 
must have been the condition of Glasgow, Manchester, 
and other manufacturing towns? 

Here, then, the Creator's laws show themselves para- 
mount, even when men set themselves systematically to 
infringe them. He intended the human race, under the 
moral law, not to pursue Acquisitiveness excessively, but 
to labor only a certain and a moderate portion of their 
lives; and although they do their utmost to defeat this 
intention, they cannot succeed; they are constrained to 
remain idle as many days and hours, while their surplus 
oroduce is consuming, as would have served* for the due 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 227 

exercise of their moral and intellectual faculties, and the 
preservation of their health, if they had dedicated them 
regularly to these ends from day to day, as time passed 
over their heads. But their punishment proceeds: the 
extreme exhaustion of nervous and muscular energy, 
with the absence of all moral and intellectual excitement, 
create the excessive craving fbr the stimulus of ardent 
spirits which distinguishes the laboring population of the 
present age; this calls into predominant activity the or- 
gans of the Animal Propensities; these descend to the 
children by the law already explained; increased crime, 
and a deteriorating population, are the results; and a 
moral and intellectual incapacity for arresting the evils 
becomes greater with the lapse of every generation 

According to the principles of the present Essay, what 
are called by commercial men c times of prosperity,' are 
seasons of the greatest infringement of the natural laws, 
and precursors of great calamities. Times are not 
reckoned prosperous, unless all the industrious popula- 
tion is employed during the whole day, hours of eating 
and sleeping only excepted, in the production of wealth. 
This is a dedication of their whole lives to the service of 
the propensities, and must necessarily terminate in pun- 
ishment, if the world is constituted on the principle of 
supremacy of the higher powers. 

This truth has already been illustrated more than once 
*n the history of commerce. The following is a recent 
example. 

By the combination laws, workmen were punishable for 
uniting to obtain a rise of wages, when an extraordinary 
demand occurred for their labor. These laws, being 
obviously unjust, were at length repealed. In summer 
and autumn 1825, however, commercial men conceived 
themselves to have reached the highest point of pros- 
perity, and the demand for labor was unlimited. The 
operatives availed themselves of the opportunity to better 
their condition; formed extensive combinations; and, 



228 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

because their demands were not complied with, struck 
work, and continued idle for months in succession. The 
master manufacturers clamored against the new law, and 
complained that the country would be ruined, if combina- 
tions were not again declared illegal, and suppressed by 
force. According to the principles of this Essay, the just 
law must from the first have been the most beneficial f 01 
all parties affected by it; and the result amply confirmed 
this idea. .Subsequent events proved that the extraordi- 
nary demand for laborers in 1825 was entirely factitious, 
fostered by an overwhelming issue of bank paper, much 
of which ultimately turned out to be worthless; in short, 
that, during the combinations, the master manufacturers 
were engaged in an extensive system of speculative over- 
production, and that the combinations of the workmen 
presented a natural check to this erroneous proceeding. 
The ruin that overtook the masters in 1826 arose from 
their having accumulated, under the influence of unbri- 
dled Acquisitiveness, vast stores of commodities which 
were not required by society; and to have compelled the 
laborers, by force, to manufacture more at their bidding, 
would obviously have been to aggravate the evil. It is a 
well known fact, accordingly, that those masters whose 
operatives most resolutely refused to work, and who, on 
this account, clamored loudest against the law, were the 
greatest gainers in the end. Their stocks of goods were 
sold off at high prices during the speculative period: and 
when the revulsion came, instead of being ruined by the 
fall of property, they were prepared, with their capitals 
at command, to avail themselves of the depreciation, to 
make new and highly profitable investments. Here 
again, therefore, we perceive the law of justice vindicat- 
ing itself, and benefiting by its operation, even those in- 
dividuals who blindly denounced it as injurious to their 
interests. A practical faith in the doctrine that the world 
is arranged by the Creator in harmony with the moral 
sentiments and intellect, would be of unspeakable advan- 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 229 

tage both to rulers and subjects; for they would then be 
able to pursue with greater confidence the course dictat- 
ed by moral rectitude, convinced that the result would 
prove beneficial, even although, when they took the 
first step, they could not distinctly perceive by what 
means. 

In the whole system of the education and treatment of 
the laboring population, the laws of the Creator, such a9 
I have now endeavored to expound them, are neglected 
or infringed. Life with them is spent to so great an ex- 
tent in labor, that their moral and intellectual powers are 
stinted of exercise and gratification; and hence their 
mental enjoyments are chiefly those afforded by the 
animal propensities: in other words, their existence is 
too little rational; they are rather organized machines 
than moral and intellectual beings. The chief duty per- 
formed by their higher faculties is not to afford predomi- 
nant sources of enjoyment, but to communicate so much 
intelligence and honesty, as to enable them to execute 
their labors with fidelity and skill. I speak, of course, 
of the great body of the laboring population; there are 
many individual exceptions, who possess higher attain- 
ments; and I mean no disrespect even to this most 
deserving portion of society; on the contrary, I represent 
their condition in what appears to me to be a true light, 
only with a view to excite them to amend it. 

Does human nature, then, admit of such a modification 
of the employments and. habits of this class, as to raise 
them to the condition of beings whose chief pleasures 
shall be derived from their rational natures? — that is, 
creatures whose bodily powers and animal propensities 
shall be subservient to their moral and intellectual facul- 
ties, and who shall derive their leading enjoyment from 
the latter. To attain this end, it would not be necessary 
that they should cease to labor; on the contrary, the 
necessity of labor to the enjoyment of life is imprinted in 
strong characters on the structure of man. The osseous, 

$0 Q 



£30 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

muscular, and nervous systems of the body, all require 
exercise as a condition of health; while the digestive and 
sanguiferous apparatus rapidly fall into disorder, if due 
exertion is neglected. Exercise of the body is labor; 
and labor directed to a useful purpose is as beneficial to 
the corporeal organs, and far more pleasing to the mind, 
than when undertaken for no end but the preservation of 
health. Commerce is rendered advantageous by the 
Creator, because different climates yield different pro- 
ductions. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, 
therefore, are adapted to man's nature, and I am not 
their enemy. But they are not the ends of human exist- 
ence, even on earth. Labor is beneficial to the whole 
human economy, and it is a mere delusion to regard it as 
in itself an evil ; but the great principle is, that it must be 
moderate both in severity and duration, in order that men 
may enjby, and not be oppressed by it. I say enjoy it; 
because moderate exertion is pleasure, and it has been 
only labor carried to excess, which has given rise to the 
common opinion that retirement from active industry is 
the goal of happiness. It may be objected that a healthy 
and vigorous man is not oppressed by ten or twelve hours' 
labor a-day; and I grant that, if he be well fed, his physi- 
cal strength may not be so much exhausted by this exer- 
tion as to cause him pain. But this is regarding him 
merely as a working animal. My proposition is, that 
after ten or twelve hours of muscular exertion a-day, 
continued for six days in the week, the laborer is not in a 
fit condition for that active exercise of his moral and in- 
tellectual faculties which alone constitutes him a rational 
being. The exercise of these powers depends on the 
condition of the brain and nervous system; and these are 
exhausted and deadened by too much muscular exertion 
The fox hunter and ploughman fall asleep when they sit 
within doors, and attempt to read or think. The truth of 
this proposition is demonstrable on physiological princi- 
ples, and is supported by general experience; neverthe- 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW 231 

less, the teachers of mankind have too .often neglected it 
The first change, therefore, must be to limit the hours of 
labor, and to dedicate a portion of time daily to the exer-» 
cise of the mental faculties. 

So far from this limitation being unattainable, it appears 
to me that the progress of arts, sciences, and society, is 
rapidly forcing its adoption. Ordinary observers appear 
to conceive man's chief end, in Britain at least, to be to 
manufacture hard-ware, broad cloth, and cotton goods, 
for the use of the whole world, and to store up wealth. 
They forget that the same impulse which inspires the 
British with so much ardor in manufacturing, will sooner 
or later inspire other nations also; and that, if all Europe 
shall follow our example, and employ efficient machinery 
and a large proportion of their population in our branches 
of industry, which they are fast doing, the four quarters 
of the globe will at length be deluged with manufactured 
goods only part of which will be required. When this 
state of things shall arrive, — and in proportion as know- 
ledge and civilization are diffused it will approach, — men 
will be compelled, by dire necessity, to abridge their toil, 
because excessive labor will not be remunerated. The 
admirable inventions which are the boast and glory of 
civilized men, are believed by many persons to be at this 
moment adding to the misery and degradation of the peo- 
ple. Power-looms, steam-carriages, and steam-ships, it 
is asserted, have all hitherto operated directly in increas- 
ing the hours of exertion, and abridging the reward of the 
laborer! Can we believe that God has bestowed on us 
the gift of an almost creative power, solely to increase the 
wretchedness of the many, and minister to the luxury of 
the few? Impossible! The ultimate effect of mechanical 
inventions on human society appears to be not yet divin- 
ed. I hail them as the grand instruments of civilization, 
by giving leisure to the great mass of the people to culti- 
vate and enjoy their moral, intellectual, and religious 
powers. 



232 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

One requisite to enable man to follow pursuits refera- 
ble to his higher endowments, is provision for the wants 
of his animal nature, viz. food, raiment, and comfortable 
lodging. It is clear that muscular power, intellect, and 
mechanical skill, have been conferred on him, with the 
design that he should build houses, plough fields, and 
fabricate commodities. But assuredly we have no war- 
rant from reason or revelation for believing that, any 
portion of the people are bound to dedicate their whole 
lives and energies, aided by all mechanical discoveries, 
to these ends, as their proper business, to the neglect of 
the study of the works and will of the Creator. Has man 
been permitted to discover the steam-engine, and apply it 
in propelling ships on the ocean and carriages on rail- 
ways, in spinning, weaving, and forging iron, — and has 
he been gifted with intellect to discover the astonishing 
powers of physical agents, such as are revealed by chem- 
istry and mechanics, — only that he may be enabled to 
build more houses, weave more cloth, and forge more 
iron, without any direct regard to his moral and intellec- 
tual improvement? If an individual, unaided by animal 
or mechanical power, had wished to travel from Manches- 
ter to Liverpool, a distance of thirty miles, he would 
have been under the necessity of devoting ten or twelve 
hours of time, and considerable muscular energy, to the 
task. When roads and carriages were constructed, and 
horses trained, he could, by their assistance, have accom- 
plished the same journey in four hours, with little fatigue ; 
and now, when railways and steam-engines have been 
successfully completed, he may travel that distance, with- 
out any bodily fatigue whatever, in an hour and a half: 
And I ask, for what purpose has Providence bestowed 
the nine hours, which are thus set free as spare time to 
(he individual? I humbly answer, for the purpose of 
cultivating his moral, intellectual, and religious nature. 
Again, before steam-engines were applied to spinning 
and weaving, a human being would have needed to 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 233 

labor, say for a month, in order to produce linen, 
woollen, and cotton cloth, necessary to cover his own 
person for a year; or, hi case of a division of labor, a 
twelfth part of the population would have required to be 
constantly engaged in this employment: by the applica- 
tion of steam, the same ends may be gained in a day. I 
repeat the inquiry; for what purpose has Providence 
bestowed the twenty-nine days out of the month, set free 
by the invention of the steam-engine and machine'ry? 
These proportions are not stated as statistically correct, 
but as mere illustrations of a proposition, that every dis- 
covery in natural science, and invention in mechanics, 
has a direct tendency to increase the leisure of man, and 
to enable him to provide for his physical wants with less 
laborious exertion. 

The question recurs, whether, in thus favoring the 
human race, the object of Providence be, to enable only 
a portion of them to enjoy the highest luxuries, while 
the mass shall continue laboring animals; or whether it 
be not to enable all to cultivate and enjoy their rational 
nature ? 

In proportion as mechanical inventions shall be gene- 
rally diffused over the world, they will increase the 
powers of production to such an extent, as to supply, by 
moderate labor, every want of man; and then the great 
body of the people will find themselves in possession of 
reasonable leisure, in spite of every exertion to avoid it 
Great misery will probably be suffered in persevering in 
the present course of action, before their eyes shall be 
opened to this result. The first effect of these stupen- 
dous mechanical inventions threatens to be to accumulate 
great wealth in the hands of a few, without proportionally 
abridging the toil, or greatly adding to the comforts of 
the many. This process of elevating a part of the com* 
munity to affluence and power, and degrading the rest, 
threatens to proceed till the disparity of condition shal 
have become intolerable to both, the laborer being utterly 

20* 



234 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

i 

oppressed, and the higher classes harassed by insecurity 
Then, probably, the idea may occur, that the real benefit 
of physical discovery is to give leisure to the mass of the 
people, and that leisure for mental improvement is the 
first condition of true civilization, knowledge being the 
second. The science of human nature will enable men at 
length to profit by exemption from excessive toil; and it 
may be hoped that, in course of time, the notion of man 
being really a rational creature, may meet with general 
countenance, and that sincere attempts may be made to 
render all ranks prosperous and happy, by institutions 
founded on the basis of the superior faculties. 

The same means will lead to the realization of practi- 
cal Christianity. An individual whose active existence 
is engrossed by mere bodily labor, or by the pursuits of 
gain or ambition, lives under the predominance of facul- 
ties that do not produce the perfect Christian character. 
The true practical Christian possesses a vigorous and 
enlightened intellect, and moral affections glowing with 
gratitude to God and love to man; but how can the 
people at large be enabled to realize this condition of 
mind, if stimulus for the intellect and the nobler senti- 
ments be excluded by the daily routine of their occupa- 
tions? 

In some districts of England, the operatives lately 
demanded an abridgement of labor without abatement of 
wages. This project was unjust, and proved unsuccess- 
ful. They ought to have given up first one hour's labor, 
and the price of it, and waited till the increase of capital 
ind of demand brought up wages to their former rate, 
which, if they had restrained population, would certainly 
have happened. They ought to have then abated a 
second hour, submitting again to a reduction, and again 
waited for a re-action; and so on, till they had limited 
their labor to eight or nine hours a-day. The change 
must be gradual, and the end must be obtained by mora* 
means, else it will never be accomplished at all. 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 235 

The objection has been stated, that, even in the most 
improved condition of the great body of the people, there 
will still be a considerable proportion of them so deficient 
in talent, so incapable of improvement, and so ignorant, 
that their labor will be worth little; that, as they must 
obtain subsistence, no alternative will be left to them but 
to make up by long hours of exertion what they want in 
skill ; and that their long-continued labor, furnished at a 
cheap rate, will affect all the classes above them, and 
indeed prevent the views now taken from ever being 
generally realized This objection resolves itself into 
the proposition, That the people have been destined by 
the Creator to be laboring animals, and that, from their 
inherent mental defects, they are incapable generally of 
being raised to any more honorable station; which is 
just the great point at issue between the old and the new 
philosophy. If mankind at large (for the industrious 
classes constitute so very great a majority of the race, 
that I may be allowed to speak of them as the whole), 
had been intended for mere hewers of wood and drawers 
of water, I do not believe that the moral and intellectual 
faculties which they unquestionably possess, would have 
been bestowed on them; and as they do enjoy the rudi- 
ments of all the feelings and capacities which adorn the 
highest of the race, and as these faculties themselves are 
improvable, I do not subscribe to the doctrine of the per- 
manent incapacity of the race. I consider the operatives, 
in successive generations, quite capable of learning to 
act as rational beings; and whenever the great majority 
oPthem shall have acquired a sense of the true dignity of 
their nature, and a relish for the enjoyments afforded by 
their higher capacities, they will become capable of so 
regulating the supply of labor in reference to the demand, 
as to obtain the means of subsistence in return for mode- 
rate exertion. In short, I hope that few of the imbeciles 
alluded to in the objection will exist; and that these few 
will be directed and provided for by the multitude of 



236 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

generous and enlightened minds which will exist around 
them. 

At the same time there is great force in the objection, 
considered in reference to the present and several suc- 
ceeding generations. In throwing out these views, \ em- 
brace centuries of time^. I see the slow progress of Jhe 
human race in the past, and do not anticipate miracles 
in the future. If a sound principle is developed — one 
having its roots in nature — there is a certainty that it will 
wax strong and bear fruit in due season; but that season, 
from the character of the plant, is a distant one. All 
who aim at benefiting mankind, ought to keep this truth 
constantly in view. Almost every scheme is judged of 
by its effects on the living generation; whereas, no great 
fountain of happiness ever flowed clear at first, or yielded 
its full sweets to the generation which discovered it. 

It is now an established principle in political economy, 
that Government ought not to interfere with industry. 
This maxim was highly necessary when governors were 
grossly ignorant of all the natural laws which regulate 
production and the private conduct of men; because their 
enactments, in general, were then absurd, they often did 
much harm, and rarely good. But if the science of hu- 
man nature were once fully and clearly developed, it is 
probable that this rule might, with great advantage, be 
relaxed, and that the legislature might considerably ac- 
celerate improvements, by adding the constraining au- 
thority of human laws to enactments already proclaimed 
by the Creator. Natural laws do exist, and the Creator 
punishes if they are not obeyed. The evils of life are 
these punishments. Now, if the great body of intelligent 
men in any state saw clearly that a course of action pur- 
sued by the ill-informed of their fellow subjects was the 
source of continual suffering, not only to the evil-doers 
themselves but to the whole community, it appears to me 
allowable, that they should stop its continuance by legis- 
lative enactment. If the majority of the middle classes 



INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. 237 

resident in towns were to petition parliament, at present, 
to order shops in general to be shut at eight o'clock, or 
even at an earlier hour, to allow time *br the cultivation 
of the rational faculties of the men and women engaged 
in them, it would be no stretch of power to give effect to 
the petition: that is to say, it would lead to no evil, if 
the ignorant and avaricious were prevented by law from 
continuing ignorant, and forcing all their competitors in 
trade to resemble them in their defects. If the Creator 
have so constituted the world that men may execute all 
necessary business, and still have time to spare for the 
cultivation of their rational faculties, any enactment of 
the legislature calculated to facilitate arrangements for 
accomplishing both ends would be beneficial and suc- 
cessful, just because it was in accordance with nature; 
although the prejudiced and ignorant of the present gen- 
eration would complain, and probably resist it. This 
principle of interference would go much farther; its only 
limits seem to me to be the boundaries of the real know- 
ledge of nature; as long as the legislature enacts in 
conformity with nature, the result will be successful. At 
present, ignorance is too extensive and prevalent, to 
authorize Parliament to venture far. From indications 
which already appear, however, I think it probable that 
the laboring classes will ere long recognise Phrenology, 
and the natural laws, as deeply interesting to themselves; 
and whenever their minds shall be opened to rational 
views of their own constitution as men, and their condi- 
tion as members of society, I venture to predict that they 
will devote themselves to improvement, with a zeal and 
earnestness that in a few generations will change the as- 
pect of their class. 

The consequences of the present system of departing 
from the moral law, on the middle orders of the commu- 
nity, are in accordance with its effects on the lower. 
Uncertain gains, continual fluctuations in fortune, the 
absence of all reliance, in their pursuits, on moral ana 



CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

intellectual principles, a gambling spirit, an insatiable ap- 
petite for wealth, alternately extravagant joys of excessive 
prosperity and bitter miseries of disappointed ambition, 
render the lives of manufacturers and merchants, to too 
great an extent, scenes of mere vanity and vexation of 
spirit. As the chief occupations of the British nation, 
manufactures and commerce are disowned by reason; for 
as now conducted, they imply the permanent degradation 
of the great mass of the people. They already constitute 
England's weakness; and, unless they shall be regulated 
by sounder views than those which at present prevail, 
they will involve her population in unspeakable misery. 
The oscillations of fortune, which almost the whole of the 
middle ranks of Britain experience, in consequence of 
the alternate depressions and elevation of commerce and 
manufactures, are attended with extensive and severe 
individual suffering. Deep, though often silent agonies, 
pierce the heart, when ruin is seen stealing, by slow but 
certain steps, on a young and helpless family ; the mental 
struggle often undermines the parent's health, and con- 
ducts him prematurely to the grave. No death can be 
imagined more painful than that which arises from a 
broken spirit, robbed of its treasures, disappointed in its 
ambition, and conscious of failure in the whole scheme 
of life. The best affections of the soul are lacerated and 
agonized at the prospect of leaving their dearest objects 
to struggle without provision, in a cold and selfish world. 
Thousands of the middle ranks of Britain unfortunately 
experience these miseries in every passing year. No- 
thing is more essential to human happiness than fixed 
principles of action, on which we can rely for our present 
safety and future welfare; and trie Creator's laws, when 
seen and followed, afford this support and delight to our 
faculties in the highest degree. It is one, not the least, 
of the punishments that overtake the middle classes for 
neglect of these laws, that they do not, as a permanent 
condition of mind, feel secure and internally at peace 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 239 

with themselves. In days of prosperity, they continue 
to fear adversity. They live in a constant struggle with 
fortune ; and wnen the excitement of business has subsid- 
ed, vacuity and craving are felt within. These proceed 
from the moral and intellectual faculties calling aloud for 
exercise; but, through ignorance of their own nature, 
either pure idleness, gossipping conversation, fashionable 
amusements, or intoxicating liquors, are resorted to, and 
with these, a vain attempt is made to fill up the void of 
life. I know that this class ardently desires a change 
that would remove the miseries described, and will zeal- 
ously co-operate in diffusing knowledge, by which means 
alone it can be introduced. 

The punishment which overtakes the higher classes is 
equally obvious. If they do not engage in some active 
pursuit, so as to give scope to their energies, they suffer 
the evils of ennui, morbid irritability, and excessive relax- 
ation of the functions of mind and body, which carry in 
their train- more suffering than is entailed even on the 
operatives by excessive labor. If they pursue ambition 
in the senate or the field, in literature or philosophy, 
their real success is in exact proportion to the approach 
which they make to observance of the supremacy of the 
sentiments and intellect. Franklin, Washington, and 
Bolivar, may be contrasted with Sheridan and Bona- 
parte, as illustrations. Sheridan and Napoleon did not, 
systematically, pursue objects sanctioned by the higher 
sentiments and intellect, as the end of their exertions; 
and no person, who is a judge of human emotions, can 
read their lives, and consider what must have passed 
within their minds, without coming to the conclusion, 
that, even in their most brilliant moments of external 
prosperity, the canker was gnawing within, and that there 
was no moral relish of the present, or reliance on the 
future, but a mingled tumult of inferior propensities and 
intellect, carrying with it an habitual feeling of unsatisfied 
desires. 



240 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

Let us now consider the effect of the moral law on 
national prosperity. 

If the Creator has constituted the world in harmony 
with the dictates of the moral sentiments, the highest 
prosperity of each particular nation should be thoroughly 
compatible with that of every other: that is to say, Eng- 
land, by sedulously cultivating her own soil, pursuing 
her own courses of industry, founding her internal insti- 
tutions and her external relations on the principles of 
Benevolence, Veneration, and Justice, which imply absti- 
nence from wars of aggression, from conquest, and from 
all selfish designs of commercial monopoly, would be in 
the highest condition of prosperity and enjoyment that 
nature would admit of; and every step that she deviated 
from these principles, would carry an inevitable punish- 
jnent along with it. The same statement might be made 
relative to France and every other nation. According 
to this principle, also, the Creator should have conferred 
on each nation some peculiar advantages of soil, climate, 
situation, or genius, which would enable it to carry on 
amicable intercourse with its fellow states, in a beneficial 
exchange of the products peculiar to each; so that the 
higher one nation rose in morality, intelligence, and 
riches, it ought to become so much the more estimable 
and valuable as a neighbor to all the surrounding states. 
This is bo obviously the real constitution of nature, thai 
proof of it would be superfluous. 

England, however, as a nation, has set this law at 
absolute defiance. She has led the way in taking the 
propensities as her guides, in founding her laws and 
institutions on them, and in following them out in her 
practical conduct. England placed restrictions on trade, 
and carried them to the greatest height; she conquered 
colonies, and ruled them in the full spirit of selfishness; 
she encouraged lotteries, fostered the slave trade, and 
carried paper money and the most avaricious spirit of 
manufacturing and speculating in commerce to their 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 241 

highest pitch; defended corruption in Parliament, and 
distributed churches, and seats on the bench of justice, 
on principles purely selfish; all in direct opposition to the 
supremacy of the moral law. If the world had been 
created in harmony with the predominance of the animal 
faculties, England should have been a most felicitous 
nation; but as the reverse is the case, it was natural that 
a severe national retribution should follow these depart- 
ures from the divine institutions; and grievous according- 
ly has been, and, I fear, will be, the punishment. 

The principle which regulates national chastisement is, 
that the precise combination of faculties which leads to 
the transgression, carries in its train the punishment. 
Nations are under the moral and intellectual law, as well 
as individuals. A carter who half starves his horse, and 
unmercifully beats it, to supply, by the stimulus of pain, 
the vigor that nature intended to flow from abundance of 
food, may be supposed to practise this barbarity with 
impunity in this world, if he evade the eye of the police ; 
but this is not the case. The hand of Providence reaches 
him by a direct punishment: He fails in his object, for 
blows cannot supply the vigor which, by the constitution 
of the horse, will flow only from sufficiency of wholesome 
food. In his conduct, he manifests excessive Acquisi- 
tiveness and Destructiveness, w T ith deficient Benevolence, 
Veneration, Justice, and Intellect; and he cannot reverse 
this character, by merely averting his eyes and his hand 
from the horse. He carries these dispositions into the 
bosom of his family and into the company of his asso- 
ciates, and a variety of evil consequences ensue. The 
delights that spring from active moral sentiments and 
intellectual powers, are necessarily unknown to him; and 
the difference between these pleasures, and the sensa- 
tions attendant on his moral and intellectual condition, 
are as great as between the external splendor of a king 
and the naked poverty of a beggar. It is true that he 
has never felt the enjoyment, and does not know the 

21 



242 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

extent of his loss; but still the difference exists; %*>t see it 
and know that, as a direct consequence of this state of 
mind, he is excluded from a very great and exalted pleas 
ure. Farther, his active animal faculties rouse the Com 
bativeness, Destructiveness, Self-Esteem, Secretiveness, 
and Cautiousness, of his wife, children, and associates, 
against him, and they inflict on him animal punishment. 
He, no doubt, goes on to eat, drink, blaspheme, and 
abuse his horse, day after day, apparently as if Provi- 
dence approved of his conduct; but he neither feels, nor 
can any one who attends to his condition believe him to 
feel, happy; he is uneasy, discontented, and conscious 
of being disliked, — all which sensations are his punish- 
ment, and it is owing solely to his own grossness and 
ignorance that he does not connect it with his offence. 
Let us apply these remarks to nations. 

England, under the impulses of excessively strong 
Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, and Destructiveness, for a 
long time protected the slave trade. According to the 
law which I am explaining, during the periods of greatest 
sin in this respect, the same combination of faculties 
ought to be found working most vigorously in her other 
institutions, and producing punishment for that offence. 
There ought to be found in these periods a general spirit 
of domineering and rapacity in her public men, rendering 
them little mindful of the welfare of the people; injustice 
and harshness in her taxations and public laws;, and a 
spirit of aggression and hostility towards other nations, 
provoking retaliation of her insults. And, accordingly, 
I have been informed, as a matter of fact, that, while 
these measures of injustice were publicly patronised by 
the government, its servants vied with each other in in- 
justice towards it, and its subjects dedicated their talents 
and enterprise towards corrupting its officers, and cheat- 
ing it of its due Every trader who was liable to excise 
or custom duties evaded the one-half of them, and felt no 
disgrace in doing so. A gentleman, who was subject to 






INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW 243 

the excise laws fifty years ago, described to me the con- 
dition of his trade at that time. The excise officers, he 
said, regarded it as an understood matter, that at least 
one-half of the goods manufactured were to be smuggled 
without being charged with duty; but then, said he, 
1 they made us pay a moral and pecuniary penalty that 
was at once galling and debasing. We were constrained 
to ask them to our table at all meals, and place them at 
the head of it in our holiday parties; when they fell into 
debt, we were obliged to help them out of it; when they 
moved from one house to another, our servants and carts 
were in requisition to transport their effects. By way of 
keeping up discipline upon us, and also to make a show 
of duty, they chose every now and then to step in and 
detect us in a fraud, and get us fined; if we submitted 
quietly, they told us that they would make us amends, 
by winking at another fraud, and generally did so; but if 
our indignation rendered passive obedience impossible, 
and we spoke our mind of their character and conduct, 
they enforced the law on us, while they relaxed it on our 
neighbors; and these, being rivals in trade, undersold us 
in the market, carried away our customers, and ruined 
our business. Nor did the bondage end here. We 
could not smuggle without the aid of our servants; and as 
they could, on occasion of any offence given to them- 
selves, carry information to the headquarters of excise, 
we were slaves to them also, and were obliged tamely to 
submit to a degree of drunkenness and insolence, that 
appears to me now perfectly intolerable. Farther, this 
evasion and oppression did us no good; for all the trade 
were alike, and we just sold our goods so much cheaper 
the more duty we evaded; so that our individual success 
did not depend upon superior skill and superior morality, 
in making an excellent article at a moderate price, but 
upon superior capacity for fraud, meanness, sycophancy, 
and every possible baseness. Our lives were any thing 
but enviable. Conscience, although greatly blunted by 



244 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

practices that were universal, and viewed aj inevitable, 
still whispered that they were wrong; our sentiments of 
self-respect very frequently revolted at the insults to 
which we were exposed, and there was a constant feeling 
of insecurity from the great extent to which we were 
dependent upon wretches whom we internally despised. 
When the government took a higher tone, and more 
principle and greater strictness in the collection of the 
duties were enforced, we thought ourselves ruined; but 
the reverse has been the case. The duties, no doubt, 
are now excessively burdensome from their amount; but 
that is their least evil. If it was possible to collect them 
from every trader with perfect equality, our independence 
would be complete, and our competition would be confin- 
ed to superiority in morality and skill. Matters are much 
nearer this point now than they were fifty years ago; but 
still they would admit of considerable improvement.' 
The same individual mentioned, that, in his youth, now 
seventy years ago, the civil liberty of the people of Scot- 
land was held by a weak tenure. About 1760, he knew 
instances of soldiers being sent, in time of war, to the 
farm houses, to carry off, by force, young men for the 
army; and as this was against the law, they were accused 
of some imaginary offence, such as a trespass, or an as- 
sault, which was proved by false witnesses, and the 
magistrate, perfectly aware of the farce, and its object, 
threatened the victim with transportation to the colonies, 
as a felon, if he would not enlist; which, unprotected and 
overwhelmed by power and injustice, he was, of course, 
compelled to do. 

If the same minute representation were given of other 
departments of private life, during the time of the great- 
est immoralities on the part of the government, we would 
find that this paltering with conscience and character in 
the national proceedings, tended to keep down the mo- 
-ality of the people, and fostered in them a rapacious and 
gambling spirit, to which many of the evils that have 
since overtaken us have owed their origin. 



INFRINGEMENT OP THE MORAL LAW. 245 

But we may take a more extensive view of the subject 
of national responsibility. 

In the American war England desired to gratify her 
Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem, *in opposition to Bene- 
volence and Justice, at the expense of her transatlantic 
colonies. This roused the animal resentment of the lat- 
ter, and the lower faculties of the two nations came into 
collision; that is to say, they made war on each other — 
England, to support a dominion in direct hostility to the 
principles which regulate the moral government of the 
world, in the expectation of becoming rich and powerful 
by success in that enterprise; the Americans, to assert 
the supremacy of the higher sentiments, and to become 
free and independent. According to the principles which 
I am now unfolding, the greatest misfortune that could 
have befallen England would have been success, and the 
greatest advantage, failure in her attempt; and the result 
is now acknowledged to be in exact accordance with 
these views. If England had subdued the colonies in 
the American war, every one must see to what an extent 
her Self-Esteem, Acquisitiveness, and Destructiveness 
would have been let loose upon them. This, in the first 
place, would have roused their animal faculties, and led 
them to give her all the annoyance in their power, and 
the fleets and armies requisite to ropress this spirit would 
have far. counterbalanced, in expense, all the profits she 
could have wrung out of the colonists, by extortion and 
oppression. In the second place, the very exercise of 
these animal faculties by herself, in opposition to the 
moral sentiments, would have rendered her government 
at home an exact parallel of that of the carter in his own 
family. The same malevolent principles would have 
overflowed on her own subjects; the government would 
have felt uneasy, and the people rebellious, discontented, 
and unhappy ; and the moral law would have been amply 
vindicated by the suffering which would have every 
where abounded. The consequences of her failure have 

21* B 



246 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

been the reverse. America has sprung up into a great 
and moral nation, and actually contributes ten times more 
to the wealth of Britain, standing as she now does, in her 
natural relation to this country, than she ever could have 
done, as a discontented and oppressed colony. This ad- 
vantage is reaped without any loss, anxiety, or expense; 
it flows from the divine institutions, and both nations 
profit by and rejoice under it. The moral and intellec- 
tual rivalry of America, instead of prolonging the pre- 
dominance of the propensities in Britain, tends strongly 
to excite the moral sentiments in her people and govern- 
ment; and every day that we live, we are reaping the 
benefits of this- improvement in wiser institutions, deliver- 
ance from endless abuses, and a higher and purer spirit 
pervading every department of the executive adminis- 
tration of the country. Britain, however, did not escape 
the penalty of her attempt at the infringement of the 
moral laws. The pages of her history, during the Ame- 
rican war, are dark with suffering and gloom, and at this 
day we groan under the debt and difficulties then partly 
incurred. 

If the world be constituted on the principles of the 
supremacy of the moral sentiments and intellect, the 
method of one nation seeking riches and power, by 
conquering, devastating, or obstructing the prosperity of 
another, must be essentially futile: Being in opposition 
to the moral constitution of creation, it must occasion 
misery while in progress, and can lead to no result except 
the impoverishment and mortification of the people who 
pursue it. It is narrated that Themistocles told the 
Athenians that he had conceived a project which WDuld 
be of the greatest advantage to Athens, but that the pro- 
foundest secrecy was necessary to ensure its success. 
They desired him to communicate it to Aristides, and 
promised, if he approved, to execute it. He took Aris- 
tides aside, and told him that he proposed, unawares, to 
burn the ships of the other Grecian states, then in pro- 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 247 

found peace with the* Athenians, and not expecting an 
attack; which would render Athens master of them all. 
Aristides reported, that nothing could be more advanta- 
geous, but nothing more unjust than the project in view 
The people refused to hear or to execute it. Here the 
intellect of Aristides appears to have viewed the execu- 
tion of the scheme as beneficial, while his sentiment of 
Conscientiousness distinctly denounced it as morally wrong; 
and the question is, Whether external nature is so con- 
stituted, that the intellect can, in any case, possess suffi- 
cient data for inferring actual benefit from conduct which 
is disowned and denounced by the moral sentiments? It 
appears to me that it cannot. Let us trace the project 
of Themistocles to its results. 

In the inhabitants of the other Grecian states, the 
faculties of Self-Esteem, Combativeness, Destructive- 
ness, Intellect, Benevolence, and Conscientiousness ex- 
isted. The proposed destruction of their ships (in time 
of profound peace), would have outraged the higher sen- 
timents and intellect, and these would have kindled Com- 
bativeness and Destructiveness into the most intense 
activity. The greater the injustice of the act, the fiercer 
would the flame of opposition, retaliation, and revenge 
have glowed; and not only so, but the more grossly and 
wantonly the higher sentiments were outraged by the 
act, the higher would have been the class of minds which 
would instinctively have burned with the desire of re- 
venge. The Athenians, then, by the very constitution of 
nature would have been assailed by this fearful storm of 
moral indignation and animal resentment, rendered doubly 
terrible by the most virtuous and intelligent being con- 
verted into the most determined of their opponents. 
Turning to their own state agajj|, only those individuals 
among themselves in whom intellect and moral sentiment 
were inferior to Acquisitiveness and Self-Esteem, which 
give rise to selfishness and the lust of power, could have 
cordially approved of the deed. The virtuous would have 



248 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

turned from the contemplation of it with shame and sor- 
row, and thus both the character and number of the 
defenders would have been diminished in the very ratio of 
the atrocity of the crime, while the power of the assail- 
ants, as we have seen, would, by that very circumstance, 
have been proportionally increased. It was impossible, 
therefore, that advantage to Athens could ultimately have 
resulted from such a flagrant act of iniquity ; and the ap- 
parent opposition, in the judgment of Aristides, between 
the benefits to be expected from it and the justice of the 
deed, arose from his intellect not being sufficiently pro- 
found and comprehensive to grasp the whol$ springs 
which the enterprise would excite into action, and to 
trace them to their legitimate consequences. In point of 
fact, there would have been no opposition between the 
dictates of an intellect which could have accurately sur- 
veyed the whole causes and effects which the unjust 
enterprise would have set in motion, and the dictates of 
Conscientiousness, but quite the reverse; and the Athe- 
nians, in following the suggestions of the latter faculty, 
actually adopted the most advantageous course which it 
was possible for them to pursue. The trite observation, 
that honesty is the best policy, thus becomes a profound 
philosophical maxim, when traced to its foundation in the 
constitution of human nature. 

The national debt of Britain has been contracted chief- 
ly in wars, originating in commercial jealousy and thirst 
of conquest; in short, under the suggestions of Combat- 
iveness, Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self-Es- 
teem * Did not our ancestors, therefore, impede their 

* Of 127 years, terminating in 1815, England spent 65 in war and . 
62 in peace. The war of lffi8, after lasting nine years, and raising 
our expenditure in that period 36 millions, was ended by the treaty 
of Ryswick in 1697. Then came the war of the Spanish succession, 
which began in 1702, concluded in 17J3, and absorbed 62£ millions 
of our money. Next was the Spanish war of 1739, settled finally at 
Aix la-Chapelle in 1748, after costing us nearly 54 millions. Then 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 249 

own prosperity and happiness, by engaging in these con- 
tests? and have any consequences of them reached us, 
except the burden of paying nearly thirty millions of 
taxes annually, as the price of the gratification of their 
propensities? Would a statesman, who believed in the 
doctrines of this Essay, have recommended these wars as 
essential to national prosperity! If the twentieth part of 
the sums had been spent in objects recognised by the 
moral sentiments, — for example, in instituting seminaries 
of education and penitentiaries, and in making roads, 
canals, and public granaries, — how different would have 
been the present condition of the country! 

After the American followed the French revolutionary 
war. Opinions are at present more divided upon this 
subject: but my view of it, offered with the greatest de- 
ference, is the following. ■ When the French Revolution 
broke out, the domestic institutions of England were, to 
a considerable extent, founded and administered on prin- 
ciples in opposition to the supremacy of the sentiments. 
A clamor was raised by the nation for reform of abuses. 
If my leading principle is sound, every departure from 
the moral law in nations, as well as in individuals, carries 
its punishment with it, from the first hour of its corn- 
came the seven years' war of 1756, which terminated with the treaty 
of Paris in 1763, and in course of which we spent 112 millions. The 
next was the American war of 1775, which lasted eight years. Our 
national expenditure in this war was 136 millions. The French 
Revolutionary war began in 1793, lasted nine years, and exhibited an 
expenditure of 464 millions. The war against Bonaparte began in 
1803, and ended in 1815; during these twelve years, we spent 1159 
millions, 771 of which were raised by taxes, and 388 by loans. In 
the revolutionary war we borrowed 201 millions ; in the American, 
104 millions ; in the seven years' war 60 millions ; in the Spanish 
war of 1730, 29 millions ; in the war of the Spanish succession 32J 
millions ; in the war of 1688, 20 millions Total borrowed in the 
seven wars during 65 years, about 834 millions. In the same time, 
we raised by taxes 1189 millions, thus forming a total expenditure on 
war of two thousand and twenty-three millions of poundi 
sterling. — Weekly Review. 



250 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

mencement till its final cessation; and if Britain's institu 
tions were then, to any extent, corrupt and defective, she 
could not too speedily have abandoned them, and adopted 
purer and loftier arrangements. Her government, how- 
ever, clung to the suggestions of the propensities, and 
resisted every innovation. To divert the national mind 
from causing a revolution at home, they embarked in a 
war abroad; and, for a period of twenty-three years, let 
loose the propensities on France with headlong fury, and 
a fearful perseverance. France, no doubt, threatened 
the different nations of Europe with the most violent 
interference with their governments; a menace wholly 
unjustifiable, and one which called for resistance. But 
the rulers of that country were preparing their own de- 
struction, in exact proportion to their departures from the 
moral law; and a statesman, who knew and had confi- 
dence in the constitution of the world, as now explained, 
could have listened to the storm in complete composure, 
prepared to repel actual aggression, and have left the 
exploding of French infatuation to the Ruler of the Un 1 * 
verse, in unhesitating reliance on the efficacy of his laws 
England preferred a war of aggression. If this conduct 
were in accordance with the sentiments, we should now, 
like America, be reaping the reward of our obedience to 
the moral law, and plenty and rejoicing should flow down 
our streets like a stream. But ma*rk the contrast. This 
island exhibits the spectacle of millions of men, toiled to 
the extremity of human endurance, for a pittance scarcely 
sufficient to sustain life; weavers laboring for fourteen or 
sixteen hours a-day for eightpence, and frequently unable 
to procure work, even on these terms; other artisans, 
exhausted almost to death by laborious drudgery, who, if 
better recompensed, seek compensation and enjoyment in 
the grossest sensual debauchery, drunkenness, and glut- 
tony; master-traders and manufacturers anxiously labor 
ing for wealth, now gay in the fond hope that all theii 
expectations will be realized, then sunk in deep despaii 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 251 

by the- breath of ruin having passed over them; landhold- 
ers and tenants now reaping unmeasured returns from 
their properties, then pining in penury, amidst an overflow 
of every species of produce; the government cramped by 
an overwhelming debt and the prevalence of ignorance 
and selfishness on every side, so that it is impossible for 
it to follow with a bold step the most obvious dictates of 
reason and justice, owing to the countless prejudices and 
imaginary interests which every where obstruct the path 
of improvement. This much more resembles punish- 
ment for transgression, than reward for obedience to the 
divine institutions. 

If every man in Britain will turn his attention inwards, 
and reckon the pangs of disappointment which he has felt 
at the subversion of his own most darling schemes, by 
unexpected turns of public events, or the deep inroads on 
his happiness which such calamities, overtaking his dear- 
est relations and friends, have occasioned to him; the 
numberless little enjoyments in domestic life, which he is 
forced to deny himself, in consequence of the taxation 
with which they are loaded ; the obstructions to the fair 
exercise of his industry and talents presented by stamps, 

' licenses, excise laws, custom-house duties, et hoc genus 
omne; he will discover the extent of responsibility attached 
by the Creator to national transgressions. From my own 
observation, I would say, that the miseries inflicted upon 
individuals and families, by fiscal prosecutions, founded 
on excise laws, stamp-laws, post-office laws, &,c. all 
originating in the necessity of providing for the national 
debt, are equal to those arising from some of the most 
extensive natural calamities. It is true, that few persons 
are prosecuted without having offended; but the evil 

-consists in presenting men with enormous temptations to 
infringe mere financial regulations, not always in accord- 
ance with natural morality, and then inflicting ruinous 
penalties for transgression. Men have hitherto expected 
the punishment of their offences in the thunderbolt, or the 



252 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

yawning earthquake; and believed, that because the sea 
did not swallow them up, or the mountains fall upon them 
and crush them to atoms, Heaven was taking no cogniz- 
ance of their sins; while, in point of fact, an omnipotent, 
an all-just, and an all-wise God, had arranged, before 
they erred, an ample retribution in the very consequences 
of their transgressions. It is by looking to the 'principles 
in the mind, from which transgressions flow, and attending 
to their whole operations and results, that we discover 
the real theory of the divine government. When men 
shall be instructed in the laws of creation, they will dis- 
criminate more accurately than heretofore between natu- 
ral and factitious evils, and become less tolerant of the 
latter. 

Since the foregoing observations were written, the 
great measure of Parliamentary Reform has been carried 
into effect in Britain and Ireland, and already considera- 
ble progress has been made in rectifying our national 
institutions. For the first time in the annals of the world, 
a nation has voluntarily contributed a large sum of money 
for the advancement of pure benevolence and justice. 
Wo have agreed to pay twenty millions sterling for the 
freedom of 800,000 human beings, whom our unprinci- 
pled forefathers had led into hopeless slavery. Sinecures 
have been abolished monopolies destroyed, unmerited 
pensions checked, arra taxation lightened; and there is 
a spirit abroad which demands the reform of all other 
abuses both in Church and State. The great gratifica- 
tion which I experience in these changes arises from the 
perception that they have all the tendency to place the 
institutions of the country, and the administration of them, 
in harmony with the dictates of reason and the' moral 
sentiments; the effect of which will infallibly be, not only 
to increase the physical enjoyments, but greatly to ad- 
vance the moral, intellectual, and religious condition of 
the people. Example is the most powerful means of 
instruction, and it was in vain for a priesthood allied to 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 253 

the itate to preach truth, justice, and benevolence to the 
people, while force, oppression, and every species of 
abuse, were practised by our rulers and the church itself. 
No more effectual means of purifying the hearts of the 
people can be devised than that of purifying all public 
institutions, and exhibiting justice and kindly affection 
as the animating motives of public men and national 
measures. 

Of all national enormities, that of legalizing the pur- 
chase of human beings, and conducting them into slavery, 
is probably the most atrocious and disgraceful; and 
England was long chargeable with this iniquity. The 
callous inhumanity, the intense selfishness, and the utter 
disregard of justice, implied in the practice, must have 
overflown in numerous evils on the people of England 
themselves. Indeed, the state of wretched destitution in 
which the Irish peasantry are allowed to remain, and the 
unheeded increase of ignorance, poverty, and toil, in the 
manufacturing districts, appear to be legitimate fruits 
of the same spirit which patronised slavery, and these 
probably are preparing punishment for the nation, if 
repentance does not speedily appear. Slavery, however, 
has now been abolished by Britain, and I hail this as the 
first step in a glorious career of moral legislation. The 
North Americans have been left behind by England, for 
once, in the march of Christian practice. In the United 
States, negro slavery continues to deface the moral 
brightness of her legislative page; and on no subject does 
prejudice appear to be so inveterately powerful in that 
country as on slavery. Greatly as I respect the charac- 
ter of the Americans, it is impossible to approve of their 
treatment of the negro population. The ancestors of 
the present American people stole, or acquired by an 
unprincipled purchase, the ancestors of the existing 
negroes, and doomed them to a degrading bondage 
This act was utterly at variance with the dictates of the 
moral sentiments, and of Christianity. Their posterity 

22 



5254 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

have retained the blacks in thraldom, treated them with 
contumely, and at this day regard them as scarcely 
human beings. This also is a grievous transgression of 
the natural and revealed law of moral duty. Evil and 
suffering must flow from these transgressions to the 
American people themselves; if God really governs the 
world. 

The argument that the negroes are incapable of civili- 
zation and freedom, is prematurely urged, and not 
relevant, although it were true. The neg*o head presents 
great varieties of moral and intellectual development, 
and I have seen several which appeared fully equal to 
the discharge of the ordinary duties of civilized man. 
But the race has never received justice from its European 
and American masters; and until its treatment shall have 
become moral, its capabilities cannot be fairly estimated, 
ancf the judgment against it is therefore premature. 
Besides, whatever be its capabilities, it was a heinous 
moral transgression to transport it, by violent means, 
from the region where a wise and benevolent God had 
placed it, and to plant it in a new soil, and amidst 
institutions, for which it was never intended; and the 
punishment of this offence will not be averted, but aggra- 
vated, by losing sight of the source of the transgression, 
and charging the consequences of it on the negroes, as 
if they were to blame for their alleged incapacity to glide 
gracefully into the ranks of American civilization. The 
negroes must either be improved by culture and inter- 
marriages with the European race, or retransferred to 
their native climate, before America can escape from the 
hands of divine justice. I am not sufficiently acquainted 
with the details of. American social life, to be able to 
point out the practical form in which the punishment is 
inflicted; but if there be truth in the principles now 
expounded, I cannot doubt of its existence. 

The alternative of incorporating the negroes, by inter- 
marriage, with the European race, appears revolting re 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 25£ 

the. feelings of the latter; while they also declare it to be 
impossible to retransport the blacks tp Africa, on account 
of their overwhelming numbers. There is much force in 
both of these objections, but there is still greater weight 
in the following considerations: — that the white race is 
exclusively to blame for the origin of the evil, and for 
all its consequences; that the natural laws never relax in 
their operation; and that, therefore, the existing evils will 
go on augmenting, until a remedy be adopted, which 
will become more painful the longer it is delayed. If the 
present state of things shall be continued for a century, 
it is probable that it will end in a war of extermination 
between the black and the white population; or in an 
attempt by the blacks to conquer and exclusively possess 
one or more of the southern states of the Union;, as an 
independent kingdom for themselves. 

At the time when I write these pages, the planters of 
Jamaica and of the other West India Islands are com- 
plaining of the ruinous consequences to them of negro 
emancipation, and blaming the British Government for 
having abrogated slavery. These men apparently do not 
believe in the moral government of the world, or they 
do not know the manner in which it is administered 
If they did, they would acknowledge that those who sow 
the wind have no right to complain when they reap the 
whirlwind. The permanency of negro slavery in the 
West Indies was impossible; because it was a system of 
gross injustice, cruelty, and oppression, and no such 
social fabric can permanently endure. Its fruits have 
long been poisonous and bitter, and the planters are now 
suffering the evils of having reared them. They ought, 
however, to thank the justice and repentant generosity 
of the mother country, which has purchased the freedom 
of the slaves, that their punishment is* so greatly miti- 
gated; for they may rest assured, that the annoyances 
now suffered are light and transient compared with the 
calamities which would have befallen them from the 



256 - CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

prolongation of slavery, until it had wrought out its own 
termination. Another generation will probably see and 
acknowledge this truth. But, in the mean time, I re- 
mark, that be the sufferings of the West Indian planters 
at present what they may, they, as the representatives 
of the original transgressors, are justly sustaining the 
penalty, and that, in their instance, as in that of a patient 
undergoing a severe operation to escape from a dangerous 
disease, delay would only have protracted affliction, and 
augmented ultimate pain and the danger of the remedy. 

The Spaniards, under the influence of selfish rapacity 
and ambition, conquered South America, inflicted ujfon 
its wretched inhabitants the most atrocious cruelties, and 
continued to weigh, for 300 years, like a moral incubus, 
upon that quarter of the globe. The punishment is now 
endured. By the laws of the Creator, nations must obey 
the moral law to be happy; that is, to cultivate the arts 
of peace, to be industrious, upright, intelligent, pious, 
and humane. The reward of such conduct is individual 
happiness, and national greatness and glory. There shall 
then be none to make them afraid. The Spaniards dis- 
obeyed all these laws in the conquest of America, they 
looked to rapine and foreign gold, and not to industry, 
for wealth; this fostered avarice and pride in the govern- 
ment, baseness in the nobles, indolence, ignorance, and 
mental depravity in the people; and led them to imagine 
happiness to consist, not in the exercise of the moral and 
intellectual powers, but in the gratification of all the in- 
ferior feelings to the outrage of the higher. Intellectual 
cultivation was utterly neglected, the sentiments ran 
astray into bigotry and superstition, and the propensities 
acquired a fearful ascendency. These causes made them 
the prey of internal discord and foreign invaders; and 
Spain, at this moment, suffers an awful retribution. 

Cowper recognises these principles of divine govern- 
ment as to nations, and has embodied them in the follow- 
ing powerful verses: 



INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAW. 251 

The hand that slew till it could slay no more. 
Was glued to the sword hilt with Indian gcire. 
Their prince, as justly seated on his throne 
As vain imperial Philip on his own, 
Tricked out of all his royalty by art, 
That stript him bare, and broke his honest heart, 
Died by the sentence of a shaven priest, 
For scorning what they taught him to detest. 
How dark the veil, that intercepts the blaze 
Of Heaven's mysterious purposes and ways ; 
God stood not, though he seemed to stand aloof; 
And at this hour the conqueror feels the proof: 
The wreath he won drew down an instant curse, 
The fretting plague is in the public purse, 
The cankered spoil corrodes the pining state, 
Starved by that indolence their minds create. 

Oh ! could their ancient Incas rise again, 
How would they take up Israel's taunting strain ! 
Art thou too fallen, Iberia ? Do we see 
The robber and the murd'rer weak as we ? 
Thou that has wasted Earth, and dared despise 
Alike the wrath and mercy of the skies, 
Thy pomp is in the grave, thy glory laid 
Low in the pits thine avarice has made. 
We come with joy from our eternal rest, 
To see th' oppressor in his turn oppressed. 
Art thou the god, the thunder of whose hand 
Rolled over all our desolated land, 
Shook principalities and kingdoms down, 
And made the mountains tremble at his frown ? 
The sword shall light upon thy boasted powers, 
And waste them, as the sword has wasted ours. 
Tis thus Omnipotence his law fulfils, 
Ind Vengeance executes what Justice wills. 

Coicper's Poems. — Charity. 

In *urv.M*£ *he present aspect of Europe, we perceive 
^jBtonishing impairments achieved in physical science. 
How much is imphi^I ; n the mere names of the steam- 
engine, power-looms, rail roads, steam-boats, canals, and 
gas-lights; and yet of how much misery are several of 
these inventions at present the direct sources, in conse- 

22* 



258 CALAMITIES ARISING FROM 

quence of being almost exclusively dedicated to the 
gratification of the propensities. The leading purpose to 
which the steam-engine in almost all its forms of applica- 
tion is devoted, is the accumulation of wealth, or the 
gratification of Acquisitiveness and Self-esteem; and few 
have proposed, by its means, to lessen the hours of toil 
to the lower orders of society, so as to afford them 
opportunity and leisure for the cultivation of their moral 
and intellectual faculties, and thereby to enable them to 
render a more perfect obedience to the Creator's institu- 
tions. Physical has far outstripped moral science; and, 
it appears to me, that, unless the lights of Phrenology 
open the eyes of mankind to the real constitution of the 
world, and at length induce them to regulate their con- 
duct in harmony with the laws of the Creator, their 
future physical discoveries will tend only to deepen their 
wretchedness. Intellect, acting as the ministering ser- 
vant of the propensities, will lead them only farther astray. 
The science of man's whole nature, animal, moral, and 
intellectual, was never more required to guide him than 
at present, when he seems to wield a giant's power, but 
in the application of it to display the ignorant selfishness, 
wilfulness, and absurdity of an overgrown child. History 
nas not yielded, and cannot yield, half her fruits, until 
mankind shall be possessed of a true theory of their own 
nature. 

Many persons believe that they discover evidence 
against the moral government of the world, in the success 
of individuals not greatly gifted in moral and intellectual 
qualities, in attaining to great wealth, rank, and social 
consideration, while men of far superior merit remain in 
obscurity and poverty. But the solution of this difficulty 
is to be found in the consideration, that success in society 
depends on the possession, in the greatest degree, of the 
qualities which society needs and appreciates, and that 
these bear reference to the state in which society finds 
itself at the time when the observation is made. In th« 



INFRINGEMENT ON MORAL LAW. 259 

savage and barbarous conditions, bodily strength, cour- 
age, fortitude, and skill in war, lead a man to the highest 
honors; in a society like that of modern England, com- 
mercial or manufacturing industry may crown an individ- 
ual with riches; and great talents of debate may carry 
him to the summit of political ambition. In proportion as 
society advances in moral and intellectual acquirements, 
it will make larger demands for similar qualities in its 
favorites. The reality of the moral government of the 
world is to be found in the degree of happiness which 
individuals and society enjoy in these different states. If 
unprincipled commercial ^and political adventurers were 
happy, in proportion to their apparent success; or if na- 
tions were as prosperous under the dominion of reckless 
warriors as under that of benevolent and enlightened 
rulers; or if the individuals who compose a nation enjoy- 
ed as much serenity and joy of mind when they advanced 
the bold, selfish, and unprincipled to places of trust and 
power, as when they chose the upright, benevolent, and 
pious, — the dominion of a just Creator might well be 
doubted. But the facts are the reverse of these. 



260 



CHAPTER VI. 
ON PUNISHMENT. 

SECTION I. 

ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS 

The last point connected with the Natural Laws, which 
I consider, is the principle on which punishment for 
infringement of them is inflicted in this world. 

Every law presupposes a superior, who establishes it, 
and requires obedience to its dictates. The superior may 
be supposed to act on the principle of the propensities, or 
on that of the sentiments. The former being selfish, 
whatever they desire is for selfish gratification. Hence 
laws instituted by a superior inspired by the propensities, 
would have for their leading object, the individual advan- 
tage of the lawgiver, with no systematic regard to the 
enjoyment or welfare of those who were called on to 
obey. The moral sentiments, on the other hand, are 
altogether generous, disinterested, and just; they delight 
in the happiness of others, and do not seek individual 
advantage as their supreme end. Laws, instituted by a 
lawgiver, inspired by them, would have, for their grand 
object, the advantage and enjoyment of those who were 
called on to obey. The story of William Tell will illus- 
trate my meaning. Gessler, an Austrian governor of the 
canton of Uri, placed his hat upon a pole, and required 
the Swiss peasants to pay the same honors to it that were 
due to himself. The object of this requisition was obvi- 
ously the gratification of the Austrian's Self-esteem, in 
witnessing the humiliation of the Swiss. It was framed 
without the least regard to their happiness; because such 



ON PUIfUHMBWT. 261 

abject slavery could gratify no faculty in their minds, and 
ameliorate no principle of their nature; but, on the con- 
trary, was calculated to cause the greatest pain to their 
feelings. 

Before punishment for breaking this law could be justly 
inflicted, it would be indispensably necessary to show, that 
those who were called on to obey it, not only possessed 
the power of doing so, but were to be benefited by it. If 
it could be established, that, by the very constitution of 
their minds, it was impossible for them to reverence the 
hat of the tyrant, and that, if they had pretended to do so, 
they would have manifested only baseness and hypocrisy; 
then the law was unjust, and all punishment for disobedi- 
ence would have been pure tyranny and oppression on the 
part of the governor, In punishing, he would be calling 
in Destructiveness to minister to the gratification of his 
own Self-esteem. . 

Let us imagine, on the other hand, a law promulgated 
by a sovereign, whose sole motive was the happiness of 
his subjects, and that the edict was, Thou shalt not steal. 
If the lawgiver were placed far above the reach of theft 
by his subjects, and if respect to each other's rights were 
indispensable to the welfare of his people themselves, 
then it is obvious, that, so far as he was personally con- 
cerned, their stealing or not stealing would be of no im- 
portance to him, while it would be of the highest moment 
to themselves. Let us suppose, then, that, in order to 
prevent the evils which the subjects would bring upon 
themselves b,y stealing, he were to add as a penalty, that 
every man who stole should be locked up, and instructed 
in his duty, until he clearly felt the necessity of abstain- 
ing from theft; the justice and benevolence of this sen- 
tence would rest securely on the circumstance, that it 
was in the highest degree advantageous, at once to socie- 
ty at large, and to the offender himself. Suppose that he 
was born with large organs of Acquisitiveness and Se- 
cretiyeness, and deficient Conscientiousness, and that at 

I 



262 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

the time he committed the offence, he really could not 
help stealing, still there would be no cruelty and no 
injustice in locking him up, and instructing him in moral 
duty, until he learned to abstain from theft; because if 
this were not done, and if all men were to follow his 
example and only steal, the human race, and he, as a 
member of it, would necessarily starve and become ex- 
tinct. 

Now, the Creator's natural laws, so far as I have been 
able to perceive them, are instituted solely on the latter 
principle; that is to say, there is not the slightest indica- 
tion of the object of any of the arrangements of creation 
being to gratify an inferior feeling in the Creator himself. 
No well constituted mind, indeed, could conceive Him 
commanding beings, whom he called into existence, and 
whom he could annihilate in a moment, to do any act of 
homage which had reference solely to the acknowledg- 
ment of his authority, solely for his gratification, and 
without regard to their own welfare and enjoyment. 
We cannot, in short, without absolute outrage to the 
sentiments and intellect, imagine Him doing any thing 
analogous to the act of the Swiss governor, — placing 
an emblem of his authority on high, and requiring his 
creatures to obey it, merely to gratify himself by their 
homage, to their disparagement and distress. Accord- 
ingly, every natural law, so far as I can discover, appears 
clearly instituted for the purpose of adding to the en- 
joyment of the creatures who are called on to obey it. 
The object of the punishment inflicted for disobedience 
is to arrest the offender in his departure from the laws; 
which departure, if permitted to proceed to its natural 
termination, would involve him in tenfold greater mise- 
ries: this arrangement greatly promotes the activity of the 
faculties; and active faculties being fountains of pleasure, 
the penalties themselves become benevolent and just. 
For example, 

Under oue of the physical laws, all organized bodies 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 263 

are liable to combustion. Timber, coals, oils, and animal 
substances, when heated to a certain extent, catch fire 
and burn. The question occurs, Was this quality bestow- 
ed on them for a benevolent purpose or not? Let us 
look to the advantages attending it: By means of fire 
we obtain warmth in cold latitudes, and light after the 
sun has set; we are enabled to cook, thereby rendering 
our food more wholesome and savory; and to soften and 
fuse the metals. I need go no farther; every one will ac- 
knowledge, that, by the law under which organized bodies 
are liable to combustion, countless benefits are conferred 
on the human race. 

The human body itself, however, is organized, and in 
consequence is subject to this law, so that, if placed in a 
great fire, it is utterly dissipated in a few minutes. Some 
years ago, a woman, in a fit of insanity, threw herself 
into an iron smelting furnace, in full blaze. She was 
observed by a man working on the spot, who instantly 
put off the steam-engine that was working the bellows, 
and came to take her out; but he then saw only a small 
black speck on the surface of the fire, and in a few 
minutes more even it had disappeared. The effect of a 
less degree of heat is to disorganize the texture of the 
body. What mode, then, has the Creator followed, to 
preserve men from the danger to which they are subject 
by fire. He has caused their nerves to communicate 
sensations from heat, agreeable while the temperature 
is such as to benefit the body; slightly uneasy, when it 
becomes so high as to be in some measure hurtful; posi- 
tively painful when the heat approaches that degree at 
which it would seriously injure the organized system, and 
horribly agonizing whenever it becomes so elevated as 
to destroy the organs. The principle of all this is very 
obviously benevolent. Combustion brings us innumera- 
ble advantages; and when we place ourselves in accord- 
ance with the law intended to regulate our relation to it, 
we reap unmingled benefits and pleasure. But we are in 



264 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

danger from its excessive action; and so kind is the 
Creator, that he does not trust to the guardianship of our 
own cautiousness and intellect alone to protect us from 
infringement, but has established a monitor in every 
nerve, whose admonitions increase in intensity through 
imperceptible gradations, exquisitely adjusted to the de- 
grees of danger, till at last, in pressing circumstances, 
they urge in a note so clamant, as to excite the whole 
physical, animal, and mental energy of the offender, io 
withdraw him from the impending destruction. 

Many persons imagine that this mode of admonition 
would be altogether unexceptionable, if the offender 
always possessed the power to avoid incurring it; but 
that, on the other hand, when a child, or an aged person, 
stumbles into the fire, through mere lack of physical 
strength to keep out of it, it cannot be just and benevo- 
lent to visit him with the tortures that follow from burning. 
This is a short-sighted objection. If, to remedy the 
evil supposed, the law of combustion were altogether 
suspended as to children and old men, so that, so far as 
they were concerned, fire did not exist, then they would 
be deprived of the light and warmth, and many other 
benefits which it affords. This would be an awful depri- 
vation; for warmth is more grateful and more necessary 
to them, in consequence of the very feebleness of their 
frames. Or, we may suppose that their nerves were 
constituted, so as to feel no pain from burning, — an 
arrangement which would effectually guarantee them 
against the tortures of falling in the fire ; but, in the first 
place, nerves feel pain under the same law that enables 
them to feel pleasure; the agony of burning arises alto- 
gether from an excessive degree of the stimulus of heat, 
which, when moderate, is genial and grateful: and, 2dly, 
If no pain were felt when in the fire, the child and old 
man would have no motive to get out of it. Under the 
present system, the pain would rouse every principle in 
their minds to escape; it would increase their musculai 






CINDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 265 

energy, or make them roar aloud for assistance; in short, 
it would compel them to. get out of the fire, by some 
means or other, ana thereby, if possible, to escape from 
death. As they fell into the fire in consequence of a 
deficiency of mental and physical power to keep out, it 
would follow, that if no pain attended their contact with 
the flames, they might repose there as contentedly as on 
a bed of down; and the fond mother might find a black 
cinder for her child, or a pious daughter a half chared 
mass of bones for her father, although they had been only 
in an adjoining apartment, whence the slightest cry or 
groan would have brought them to arrest the calamity. 

In this instance, then, the punishment for neglecting 
and infringing the law of combustion, is both benevolent 
and just, even when it falls upon offenders who were com- 
pletely incapable of avoiding the offence; and it is so, 
because its object is the welfare of these very unconscious 
offenders themselves, so that if the principles on which 
punishment is inflicted were subverted, they would be 
greatly injured, and would loudly petition for their re- 
establishment. 

Let us take another example. Opium, by its inherent 
qualities, and the relationship established by the Creator 
between it and the nervous system of man, operates, if 
taken in one proportion, as a stimulant; if the proportion 
is increased it becomes a sedative; and if still increased, 
it paralyses the nervous system altogether, and death en- 
sues. Now, it is generally admitted, that there is no want 
of benevolence and justice, when a full grown and intel- 
ligent man loses his life, if he deliberately swallow an 
overdose of opium, knowing its qualities and their effects, 
because, it is said, he embraced these effects voluntarily: 
when, however, an ignorant child, groping about for 
something to eat and drink, to satisfy the craving of its 
natural curiosity and appetite, stumbles on a phial of 
laudanum, intended for the use of some sick relative, pulls 
the cork, drinks, and dies, — many persons imagine that 

23 



266 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

it is more difficult to discover justice and benevolence in 
this severe, and, as they say, unmerited catastrophe. 

But the real view of the law under which both events 
happen, appears to me to be this: The inherent qualities 
of opium, and its relationship to the nervous system, are 
very obviously benevoletft, and are the sources of manifest 
advantages to man. Imagine that, to avoid every chance 
of accidents, opium, in so far as children are concerned, 
were deprived of its qualities, or that their nervous sys- 
tems received no greater impression from it than from 
tepid water, it is clear that they would be decidedly 
sufferers. The greatest advantages of the drug are de- 
rived from its scale of efficiency, by which it can be made 
to produce, first a stimulating effect, then a gently sedative, 
and afterwards a higher and a higher degree of sedative 
influence, until, by insensible degrees, absolute paralysis 
may ensue. A dose, which kills in health, will cure 
when in disease; and, if its range were limited to effects 
beneficial in health, its advantages in disease, arising 
from higher action, would be necessarily lost; and chil- 
dren, by the supposed arrangement, would be cut off 
from its beneficial administration. The parallel between 
it and the law of combustion is complete. If we could 
lever have commanded a degree of heat higher than that 
which would gently warm the human body, we must have 
passed without the whole advantages now derivable from 
the intense heats used in cooking, baking, and manufac- 
turing. If we could never have commanded more than 
the gently stimulant and sedative effects of opium on the 
body, in a state of health, we should necessarily have 
been deprived of its powerful remedial action in cases of 
disease. The proper question then is, Whether it is 
more benevolent and just, that children, after they have 
been exposed, from whatever cause, to that high degree 
of its influence, which, although beneficial in disease, is 
adverse to the healthy action of the nervous system, 
should be preserved alive in this miserable condition, or 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS, 267 

that life should at once be terminated ? It appears obvi- 
ously advantageous to the offender himself, that death 
should relieve him from the unhappy condition into which 
his organized frame has been brought, by the abuse of 
this substance, calculated, when discreetly used, to con- 
fer on him no mean advantages. 

The principle that divine punishments are founded in 
Benevolence, even to the sufferer, is strongly elucidated 
in the case of the organic laws. When inflammation, for 
example, has seized any vital organ, if there was no pain, 
there would be no intimation that an organic law had 
been infringed, the disease would proceed quietly in its 
progress, and death would ensue, without the least previ- 
ous intimation. The pain, therefore, attending an acute 
disease, is obviously instituted to warn the sufferer, by 
the most forcible of all admonitions, to return to obedience 
to the law which he has infringed. In the case of a broken 
limb, or a deep cut, the principle becomes exceedingly 
obvious. The bone of the leg will re-unite, if the broken 
edges are preserved in close contact; and the subsequent 
serviceable condition of the limb will depend much upon 
the degree of exactness with which they have been made 
to re-approach, and been preserved in their natural posi- 
tion. Now, the pain attending a broken limb, in the first 
place, gives the most clamant intimation, that an injury 
has been sustained; secondly, It excites the individual 
most forcibly to the reparation of it; and, thirdly, As it 
recurs with a degree of violence exactly proportioned to 
the disturbance of the parts, after the healing process h'as 
commenced, it officiates like a sentinel with a drawn 
sword, compelling the patient to avoid every thing that 
may impede his recovery. The same observations apply 
to a flesh wound. The pain serves to intimate the injury, 
and to excite to its removal. The dissevered edges of the 
skin, nerves, and muscles, if skilfully made to re-approach, 
will, by the organic law, reunite, if left in repose. An 
accession of pain follows everv disturbance of their con 



268 ON PUNISHMENT At INFLICTED 

dition, when in the process of healing; and it serves 
therefore, as a most effectual* and benevolent guardian 
of the welfare of the individual. If these views be correct, 
what person would dispense with the pain which attends 
the infringement of the organic laws, although such a 
boon were in his offer? It is obvious, that, if he possessed 
the least glimmering of understanding, he would thank 
the Creator for the institution, and beg in mercy to be 
allowed the benefits attending it; especially when taken 
in connection with the fact, that, after the possibility of 
recovery ceases, death steps in to terminate the suffering. 

The point to which I request the reader's particular 
attention is, that the power of the individual to avoid, or 
not to avoid, the infringement of the law in the particu- 
lar instance which brings the punishment, is not an 
indispensable circumstance in rendering the infliction 
benevolent and just. The infliction is approved of by 
the moral sentiments and intellect, because the law, in 
its legitimate operation, is calculated altogether for the 
advantage of the subject; and because the punishment 
has no object but to bring him back to obedience for his 
own welfare, or to terminate his sufferings when he has 
erred too widely to return. 

Let us now inquire whether the same principle prevails 
in regard to the infringement of the Moral and Intellec- 
tual Laws. This investigation is attended with great 
difficulty; and it may be best elucidated by attending, in 
the first place, to the liability to punishment under which 
the lower animals are placed as to their actions. 

The physical and organic laws operate on them in the 
same manner as on man, so that nothing need be said on 
these points. The lower animals, however, possess pro- 
pensities impelling them to act, and a certain degree of 
intellect enabling them to perceive the consequences of 
their actions. These faculties prompt them to inflict 
punishment wi each other for infringement of their rights, 
although they possess no sentiments pointing out the 



T7NDER THB NATURAL LAWS 269 

moral guilt of their conduct. For example, dogs possess 
Acquisitiveness, which gives them the sense of property. 
When one is in possession of a bone, and another at- 
tempts to steal it, this act instinctively excites the Corn- 
bativeness and Destructiveness of the proprietor of the 
bone, and he proceeds to worry the assailant. Or a cock, 
on a dunghill, finds a rival intruding on his domain, and 
under the instinctive inspiration of offended Self-Love 
and Combativeness, he attacks him, and drives him off. 
I call this inflicting animal punishment. In these cases 
it is not supposed that the aggressors possess moral 
faculties, intimating that their trespass is wrong; or free 
will, by which they could avoid it, if they chose. I view 
them as inspired by their propensities, and rushing blind- 
ly to gratification. Nevertheless, in the effect which the 
aggression produces on the propensities of the animal 
assailed, we perceive an arrangement instituted by the 
Creator for checking outrage, and arresting its progress. 

Before the penalty inflicted could be viewed by man 
as just in such cases, it would be necessary to perceive 
that it was instituted for the benefit of the aggressors 
themselves; and, accordingly, it is so. If all dogs neg- 
lected to seek bones, and dedicated themselves- solely to 
stealing; and if cocks, in general, deserted their own 
domains, and gave themselves up only to felonious in- 
roads on each other's territories, it is self-evident that the 
races of these animals would soon become extinct. It 
follows, also, that any individual among them who should 
habitually abandon himself to such transgressions, would 
speedily lose his life by starvation. If, then, it is bene- 
ficial for the race, and also for the individual offender him- 
self, in these instances, to be arrested in his progress, his 
chastisement is decidedly benevolent and just. 

It is interesting to observe, that various provisions are 
made under the animal law for bringing about substantial 
justice, even in creatures destitute of the sentiment of 
Conscientiousness. The lower animals make perfectly 

23* 



270 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

6ure of punishing only the real offender; for he must be 
caught in the fact, otherwise he is not visited by their 
resentment. In the next place, it appears to be the ge- 
neral law of animal nature, that, unless the offender has? 
carried his inroad to an extreme extent, the punishment 
is relaxed the moment he desists; that is to say, the 
master of the bone or dunghill is generally satisfied with 
simple defence, and rarely abandons his treasure to pur- 
sue the offender for the sake of mere revenge. 

Farther, the animals, in inflicting punishment, make 
no inquiry into the cause of the offence. With them it af- 
fords no alleviation that the aggressor is himself in a state 
of the greatest destitution, or that his appetite is irresisti- 
ble; neither do they concern themselves with his fate 
after they have made him* undergo the penalty. He may 
die of the wounds they have inflicted upon him, or of ab- 
solute starvation before their eyes, without their enjoy- 
ment being in the least disturbed. This arises from their 
faculties consisting chiefly of perceptive powers and pro- 
pensities, which regard only self. They are destitute of 
the faculties which inquire into causes and trace conse-* 
quences; and of the moral sentiments, which desire, with 
a disinterested affection, the welfare of other beings. 

Nevertheless, the punishment which they inflict is in 
itself just, and serves, as we have seen, a- decidedly bene- 
ficial end. Let us now direct our attention to man. 

Man possesses the same animal propensities as those 
of the lower creatures, and, under their instigation, he, 
too, inflicts punishment on principles precisely analogous 
to those under which they chastise. Indeed, it is curious 
to remark, that hitherto the criminal laws, even of the 
most civilized nations, have been framed on the principles 
of animal punishment exclusively. A thief, for example, 
breaks into a dwelling-house, and steals. The reflecting 
faculties are employed to discover the offender, jind find 
evidence of the offence. Judges and juries assemble to 
determine whether the evidence be sufficient; and if they 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 27 

find it to be so, the offender is ordered to be flogged, to 
be imprisoned, or to be hanged. -We are apt to imagine 
that there is something moral in the trial. But the sole 
object of it is to ascertain that a crime has been commit- 
ted, and that the accused is the real offender. The dog 
and cock make equally certain of both points; because 
they never punish except when the individual is caught 
in the offence. Guilt being ascertained, and the offender 
identified, the dog shakes and worries, and then lets hhr 
go; and man scourges his back, or makes him mount the 
steps of a tread-mill, and then turns him adrift. If the 
offender has been very presumptuous and pertinacious in 
his aggression, the dog sometimes, although very rarely, 
throttles him outright; and man, in similar circumstan- 
ces, very generally strangles him with a rope, or cuts off 
his head. In his proceeding the dog makes no inquiry 
into the causes which led to the crime, nor into the con- 
sequences upon the offender of the punishment which he 
inflicts. Man imitates him in this also. He inflicts his 
vengeance with as little inquiry into the causes which 
led to the offence, and, except when he puts him to 
death, he turns the culprit adrift upon the world, after he 
has undergone his punishment, with as little concern 
about what shall next befall him, as is shown by his 
canine prototype. The dog acts in this manner, because 
he is inspired by animal propensities, and higher facul- 
ties have been denied him. Man imitates him, because 
he, too, has received animal faculties; and although he 
possesses moral sentiments and reflecting intellect in 
addition, he has not yet discovered the practical applica- 
tion of them to the subject of criminal legislation. 

The animal punishment is not without advantage even 
in the case of man, although it is far short, in this re- 
spect, of what he might obtain by following the guidance 
of his moral sentiments. Man as a mere animal could 
not exist in society, unless some check were instituted 
against abuses of the propensities; and hence it is quite 



272 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

obvious, that animal vengeance, rude as it is, carries 
with it results beneficial even to the offender, except 
where it puts them to death, — a degree of punishment 
which, as we have seen, the lower animals very rarely 
inflict on each other of the same species. Unless the 
outrages of Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, and Self* 
Esteem, and the other animal propensities, were check- 
ed, human society would be dissolved, and by that result 
the offenders themselves would suffer more grievous 
calamities than under any moderate ' form of animal in- 
fliction. 

The world is arranged, in so far as regards the lower 
animals, with a wise relation to the faculties bestowed on 
them. Accordingly animal resentment is really effective 
in their case. In consequence of their not possessing 
reflecting faculties, they are incapable of forming deep or 
extensive schemes for mutual aggression, and are not led 
to speculate on the chances of escaping detection in their 
misdeeds. Their offences are limited to casual overflow-, 
ings of their propensities when excited by momentary 
temptation; which are checked by counter overflowings 
of other propensities, momentarily excited in the animals 
aggrieved. 

In regard to man, however, the world has been ar- 
ranged on. the principle of supremacy of the moral senti 
ments and intellect, and, in consequence, animal retribu 
tion is not equally effectual in his case. For example, a 
human offender employs his intellect in devising means 
to enable him to escape detection, or to defend himself 
against punishment; and, in consequence, although he 
sees punishment staring him in the face, his hope deludes 
him into the belief that he may escape it. Farther, if the 
real cause of human offences be excessive size and activ- 
ity in the organs of the animal propensities, it follows 
that mere punishment cannot put a stop to crime, because 
it overlooks the cause, and leaves it to operate with un- 
abated energy, after the infliction has been endured. The 



undeH the natural laws. 273 

•history of the world; then, presents us with a regular 
succession of crimes and punishments, and at present 
the series appears to be as far removed from a termina- 
tion as at any previous period of the annals of the race. 

If the world, in rSgard to man, has been arranged oh 
the plan of supremacy of the moral sentiments and intel- . 
lect, we might expect better success, were moral retribu- 
tion, of which I now proceed to treat, resorted to. 
^ The motive which prompts the dog to worry, or the 
cock to peck and spur his assailant, is, as we have seen, 
mere animal resentment. His propensities are disagree- 
: ably affected, and Combativeness and>< Destructiveness 
instinctively start into activity to repel the aggression 
The animal resentment of man is precisely analogous. A 
thief is odious to Acquisitiveness, because he robs it of its 
treasures; a murderer is offensive to all our feelings, 
because he extinguishes life. And these faculties being 
offended, Combativeness and Destructiveness rush -to 
their- aid in man while under the animal dominion, as 
instinctively as in the dog, and punish the offender on 
principles, and in a way, exactly similar. 

The case is different with the proper human faculties. 
Benevolence, contemplating outrage and murder, disap- 
proves of them, because they are hostile to its inherent 
constitution, because they occasion calamities to those 
who are their objects, and misery to the perpetrators 
- themselves. Conscientiousness is pained by the percep- 
tion of theft, because its very nature revolts at every in- 
fringement of right, and because justice is essential to 
the welfare of all intelligent beings. Veneration is of- 
fended at reckless insult and indignity, because, from its 
very constitution, it desires to respect the intelligent 
creatures of the God whom it adores, believing that they 
are all the objects of his love. When crime is presented 
before the moral sentiments, therefore, they all ardently 
and instinctively desire that it should be stopped, and its 
recurrence prevented, just because it is in direct opposi 



274 ON FUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

tion to their very nature, and this impression on their 
part is not dependent on the power of the criminal to 
offend or to forbear offence. Benevolence grieves at 
death inflicted by a madman, and calls aioud that it 
should be averted: Conscientiousness* disavows all theft, 
although committed by an idiot, and requires that he 
should be restrained; while Veneration recoils at^ the 
irreverences even of the frenzied. The circumstance of 
the offenders being involuntary agents, quite incapable of 
restraining their propensities, does not alter the aversion 
of the moral faculties to their actions; and the reasons of 
this are obvious: first, the sentiments hate evil, because 
it is contrary to their nature, no matter from what source 
it springs; and, secondly, the circumstance of the ag- 
gressor being a necessary agent, does not diminish the 
calamity inflicted on the sufferer. It is as painful to be 
killed by a madman as by a deliberate assassin; and it is 
as destructive to property to be robbed by a cunning 
idiot, as by an acute and practised thief. 

We perceive, therefore, as the first feature of the 
moral and intellectual law, that the sentiments, absolutely 
and in all circumstances, declare against offences, and 
demand imperatively, that they shall be brought to an 
end. 

There is a great difference, however, between the 
means which they suggest for accomplishing this object, 
and those prompted by the propensities. The flatter 
blindly inflict animal resentment without the slightest 
regard to the causes which led to the crime, or the conse- 
quences of the punishment. They seize the aggressor, 
worry, bite, or strangle him, and there they begin and 
terminate. 

The moral and intellectual faculties, on the other hand, 
embrace even the criminal himself within the range of 
their sympathies. Benevolence desires to render him 
virtuous, and thereafter happy, as well as to rescue his 
victim. Veneration desires that he should be treated aa 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS 275 

a man; and Conscientiousness declares that it cannot 
with satisfaction acquiesce in any administration towards 
him that does not tend to remove the motives of his mis- 
conduct, and to prevent their recurrence. The first step, 
then, which the moral and intellectual faculties combine 
in demanding, is a full exposition of the causes of the 
offence, and the consequences of the mode of treatment 
proposed. 

Let us, then, pursue this investigation; and here let 
me observe, that we are now in condition to do so, with 
something like a chance of success; for, by the aid of 
Phrenology, we have obtained a tolerably clear view of 
the elementary faculties of the mind, and the effects of 
organization on their manifestations. 

The very first fact, then, that arrests our attention in 
this inquiry, is, that every crime proceeds from an abuse 
of some faculty or another. The question next arises. 
Whence does the tendency to abuse arise ? Phrenology 
enables us to answer, from three sources; first, from par- 
ticular organs being too large and spontaneously active, 
secondly, from excessive excitement from external causes; 
or, thirdly, from intellectual ignorance of what are uses 
and what are abuses of the faculties. 

The moral and intellectual powers next demand, What 
is the cause of particular organs being too large and active 
in individuals? Phrenology, for answer, points to the 
law of hereditary descent, by which the organs most ener- 
getic in the parents determine those which shall predomi- 
nate in the child. Intellect, then, infers that, accord- 
ing to this view, certain individuals are unfortunate at 
birth, in having received organs from their parents so ill 
prDportioned, that abuse of some of them is almost an in- 
evitable consequence, if they are left to the sole guidance 
of their own suggestions. Phrenology replies, that the 
fact appears to be exactly so. In the Phrenological Hall 
is exhibited a large assemblage of skulls and casts of the 
heads of criminals, collected from Europe, Asia, Africa 



276 ON PUNISHMENT A» INFLICTED 

and America; and an undeniable feature in them all, is a 
great preponderance of the organs of the animal propensi- 
ties over those of the moral sentiments and intellect. 

In the next place, excessive excitement from without 
may arise from the individual being pressed by animal 
want, stimulated by intoxicating liquors, or seduced by 
evil example, and from a variety of similar causes. 

And, thirdly, abuses may arise from sheer want of in- 
formation concerning the constitution of the mind, and its 
relations to external objects. I have examined the cere- 
bral development, and inquired into the external circum- 
stances, of a considerable number of criminals, and have 
no hesitation in saying, that if, in the case of every of- 
fender, the three sources of crimes here enumerated were 
investigated, reported on, and published, the conviction 
would become irresistible, that the individual was the 
victim of his nature and external condition, and that peni- 
tentiaries would be resorted to as the only means of at 
once abating crime and satisfying the moral feelings of 
the public The public err through ignorance, and need 
only to know better to insure their going into the right 
path. 

Farther, intellect perceives, and the moral sentiments 
acknowledge, that these causes subsist independently of 
the will of the offender. The criminal, for example, is not 
the cause of the unfortunate preponderance of the animal 
organs in his own brain, neither is he the cause of the 
external excitement which seduces his propensities into, 
abuse, or of the intellectual ignorance in which he is in- 
volved. Nevertheless, the moral and intellectual facul- 
ties of the indifferent spectator of his condition, do not, 
on this account, admit that he ought, either for his own 
sake or for that of society, to be permitted to proceed in 
an unrestricted course of crime. They absolutely insist 
on arresting his progress, and their first question is, How 
may this best be done? Intellect answers, by removing 
the causes which produce the offences* 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 271 

The first cause — the great preponderance of animal or- 
gans — cannot, by any means yet known, be summarily 
removed. Intellect, therefore, points out another alter- 
native, viz. to supply, by moral and physical restraint, the 
control which, in a brain better constituted, is afforded by 
large moral and intellectual organs; in short, to place the 
offender under such a degree of effective control as absof^ 
lutely to prevent the abuses of his faculties. Benevo- 
hnce acknowledges this to be kind, Veneration to be 
respectful, and Conscientiousness to be just, at once to 
the offender himself and to society; and Intellect pe 
ceives that, whenever it is adopted, it will form an impor- 
tant step towards preventing a repetition of crimes. 

The second cause, viz. great external excitement, may 
be removed by withdrawing the individual from its influ- 
ence. The very restraint and control which serve to 
remedy the first, will directly tend to accomplish this 
second object at the same time. 

The third cause, being moral and intellectual igno- 
rance, may be removed by conveying instruction to the 
higher faculties of the mind. 

If these principles be sound; the measures now recom- 
mended ought, when viewed in all their consequences, to 
be not only the most just and benevolent, but, at the same 
time, the most advantageous that could be adopted. Let us 
contrast them with the results of the animal method. 

Under the animal system, we have seen that no mea- 
sures are taken to prevent crimes. Under the moral 
method, as soon as a tendency to abuse the faculties 
should be perceived in any individual, instant measures 
of prevention would be resorted to, because the senti- 
ments could not be satisfied unless this were done. 
Under the animal system, no inquiry is made into the 
future proceedings of the offender, and he is turned loose 
on society, under the unabated influence of all the causes 
which led to his infringement of the law, and, as effects 
never cease while their causes continue to operate, he re~ 

24 * 



278 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

peats his offence, and again becomes the object of a new 
animal infliction. Under the moral system the causes 
would be removed, and the evil effects would cease. 

Under the animal system, the lower propensities of the 
offender and society are maintained in habitual excite- . 
ment, for the punishment proceeds from the propensities, 
and is addressed to the propensities. Flogging, for in- 
stance, proceeds from Destructiveness, and is addressed 
solely to self-love and fear. The tread-mill springs from 
Destructiveness in a milder form, and, as its sole object is 
to cause annoyance to the offender, it is obviously ad- 
dressed only to Cautiousness and his selfish feelings. 
Hanging and decapitation undeniably spring from De- 
structiveness, and are administered as terrors to the pro- 
pensities of persons criminally disposed. These punish- 
ments, again, especially the latter, are calculated to excite 
the animal faculties, and none else, in th© spectators who 
witness them. A capital execution obviously interests 
and gratifies Destructiveness, Cautiousness and Self- 
love, in the beholder, and nothing can be farther removed 
than such exhibitions from the proper food of Benevo- 
lence, Veneration, and Conscientiousness. 

Under the moral system, again, the whole faculties 
exercised and addressed in restraining and instructing the 
offender, are the human powers. The propensities are 
employed merely as the servants of the moral sentiments 
in accomplishing their benignant purposes, and Benevo- 
lence is as actively engaged in behalf of the offender as 
of society at large. The whole influence of the proceed- 
ing is ameliorating and elevating. 

Under the animal system, children pioduced of parents 
who have been recently engaged in either suffering, in- 
flicting, or witnessing punishment, will, by the organic 
law, inherit large and active animal organs, occasioned 
by the excitement of similar organs in the parents. Thus 
a public execution, from the violent stimulus which it 
produces in the lower faculties of the spectators, may 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 27S 

within twenty -four hours of its exhibition, be the direc 
cause of a new crop of victims for the gallows. 

Under the moral system, children born of parents ac- 
tively engaged in undergoing, executing, or witnessing 
the elevating and ennobling process of moral reformation, 
will, by the organic law, inherit an increased develop- 
ment of the moral and intellectual organs, and be farther 
removed than their parents from the risk of lapsing into 
crime. 

Under the animal system, spectators of crime, and ac- 
complices, need to be^ribed with large rewards to induce 
them to communicate their knowledge of the offence; 
and witnesses require to be compelled by penalties to 
Dear testimony to what they have seen concerning it. 
Many will recollect the affecting picture of mental agony 
drawn by the author of Waverly, when Jeanie Deans, at 
the bar of the High Court of Justiciary, gives evidence 
against her sister, which was to deprive that sister of life. 
Parallel cases occur too frequently in actual experience. 
The real cause of this aversion to betray, and internal re- 
pugnance to give evidence, is, that the moral sentiments 
are revolted at the delivery of the culprit to the cruelty 
of animal resentment. 

Under the moral system, the sentiments and intellect 
of the spectator of a crime, and those of the nearest rela- 
tives of the offender, would unite, along with those of 
society at large, in an unanimous desire to deliver him up 
with the utmost speed to the ameliorating influence of 
moral reformation, as the highest benevolence even to 
himself. 

Under the animal system, the office of public execu- 
tioner is odious, execrable, and universally condemned. 
If it were necessary by the Creator's institutions, it would 
present the extraordinary example of a necessary duty 
being execrated by the moral sentiments. This would 
be a direct inconsistency between the dictates of the 
superior faculties and the arrangement of the externa. 



280 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

world. But the animal executioner is not acknowledged 
as necessary by the human faculties. Under the moral 
system, the criminal would be committed to persons 
whose duties woulcl be identical with those of the clergy- 
man, the physician, and the teacher. These are the ex- 
ecutioners under the moral Jaw; and just because their 
avocations are highly grateful to the sentiments, these 
are the most esteemed of mankind. 

The highest and the most important object of this long 
exposition of the principles of punishment under the 
natural laws, remains to be unfolded. 

We are all liable to abuse our faculties; and the in- 
quiry is exceedingly interesting, what, in our cases, are 
the causes of the infringement of the moral law. The 
offences which -we daily commit, are neither more nor 
less than minor degrees of abuse of the very same facul- 
ties of which crimes are the greater. For example, if in 
private life we backbite or slander our neighbor, we 
commit abuses of Self-Esteem and Destructiveness, 
which, if increased merely in intensity, without at all 
changing their nature, might end, as in Ireland, in maim- 
ing his cattle, or, as in Spain or Italy, in murdering him 
outright. If, in any transaction of life, we deliberately 
give false representations as to any article we have for 
sale, or overcharge it in price, this is just a minor abuse 
of Secretiveness and Acquisitiveness, acting in absence 
of the moral sentiments, of which pocket-picking and 
stealing are higher degrees. I need not carry the paral- 
lel farther. It is so obvious that every offence against 
the moral law is an abuse of some faculty or other, and 
that great crimes are just great abuses, and smaller of- 
fences lesser aberrations, that every one must perceive 
the fact to be so. 

Reverting to what I observed in regard to crime, 1 
repeat, that every infringement of the moral law, the 
smallest as well as the greatest, is denounced by the sen- 
timents and intellect, just because it is opposed to their 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 281 

nature, and they desire absolutely to bring all abuses to 
an end, from whatever source they spring, be they 
voluntary or involuntary. 

Animal resentment is, by the present practice of socie- 
ty, resorted to as the chief method of dealing with the 
minor, just as it is with the higher, abuses of our faculties. 
If one gentleman insults another, the offended party 
makes no inquiry into the state of mind and other causes 
that produced the insult, but proceeds to knock him on 
the head, to challenge, and thereafter to shoot him, or to 
prosecute him in a jury court, and inflict pain by depriv- 
ing him of money. These are the common methods by 
which men inflict animal retribution on each other, and in 
essential character they do not much differ from those 
followed by the lower creatures. 

I do not say that these proceedings are absolutely 
without beneficial effect. The animal faculties are sel- 
fish, and these inroads upon their enjoyment have un- 
doubtedly a tendency to check them. It is painful to a 
gentleman to be knocked down or shot, and, in conse- 
quence, some individuals whose moral principles are low, 
are induced to manage matters so as to avoid these forms 
of retaliation, who would not be restrained from insulting 
their neighbors by the dictates of their own feelings; but 
here the benefit terminates. The infliction of the chas- 
tisement excites only the animal faculties of the offended 
party, and it is addressed exclusively to the animal 
part of the offenders mind. Habitual morality, however, 
cannot exist without supreme activity of the moral senti- 
ments; and the whole code of animal law, and animal 
punishment, does nothing whatever to establish this as a 
permanent condition of mind. 

Under the moral and intellectual law, every thing is 
different. The intellectual faculties inquire into the 
causes of abuses, and the sentiments desire to remove 
them with kindness and respect, even for the offender 
himself. If one person insult another, intellect, aided by 

24* 



282 ON PUNISHMENT AS INFLICTED 

Phrenology, perceives that he must of necessity do so, 
either from excessive predominance of Combativeness, 
Destructiveness, and Self-Esteem in his own brain, so 
that he has an instinctive tendency to insult, just as some 
ill-natured dogs and horses have a tendency to bite with- 
out provocation; or from excessive external stimulus, that 
is to say, from some aggression offered to these lower 
organs by other people; or, thirdly, from intellectual igno- 
rance, that is, erroneously supposing motives and inten- 
tions in the party whom he insults, which really do not 
belong to him. If one person cheats another, Intellect, 
aided by Phrenology, perceives that he can do so, only 
because Acquisitiveness and Secretiveness predominate 
in him over Consientioiisness; because the external temp- 
tation to cheat is too powerfulfor his combination of facul- 
ties to resist; or because he is intellectually ignorant that 
cheating is equally fatal to his own interest as injurious 
to that of his victim. In short, intellect, aided by Phre- 
nology, comes to an irresistible conclusion, that no abuse 
of the animal faculties can be committed, that may not be 
traced to these or similar causes. 

But intellect and the moral sentiments desire to remove 
the causes as the most effectual way of putting an end to 
the effects, and their method is one congenial to their own 
constitution. If a man by nature is irritable, and prone 
to injure every one with whom he comes into contact, 
they desire most sedulously to remove every cause that 
may tend to exasperate his propensities, and also to sur- 
round him with a high moral and intellectual atmosphere. 
If he is exposed to temptation, they desire to withdraw it; 
if he is misinformed, ignorant, or deceived, they desire to 
instruct him, and give him correct information. After we 
have suffered injury from another', if we perceive the 
causes from which it proceeded to be really such as I have 
now explained, and if we comprehend and believe in the 
supremacy of the moral law, it will be impossible for us to 
prefer the method of redress by animal resentment. 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 283 

The question naturally presents itself, What is the dis- 
tinction between right and wrong, under this system? If 
offences proceed from unfortunate development of brain, 
not fashioned by the individual himself; from external 
temptations which he did not make; or from want of 
knowledge which he never possessed, how are the distinc- 
tions between right and wrong, merit and demerit, to be 
explicated and maintained? The answer is simple. 

The natural distinction betwixt right and wrong, so far as 
man is concerned, depends on the constitution of the moral 
and intellectual faculties. The act of wantonly killing 
another is wrong; because it is in direct opposition to the 
dictates of Benevolence. The act of appropriating to 
ourselves effects belonging to another is wrong, because it 
is distinctly denounced by Conscientiousness, and so with 
all other offences. The authority of the moral law, in for- 
bidding these offences, depends on the whole arrangements 
of creation being constituted to enforce its dictates. If 
Benevolence and Conscientiousness denounce murder, 
and if the whole other faculties of the mind, and the ex- 
ternal order of things, harmonize with their dictates, and 
combine to punish the offender, the foundation and sanc- 
tions of the moral law appear abundantly strong. It has 
been^ objected, that, in Tartary, theft is honorable; but 
Dr. T. Brown has well answered this objection. There 
are more principles in the mind than Benevolence, Vene- 
ration and Conscientiousness; and it is quite possible to 
misinform the intellect, and thereby misdirect the propen- 
sities and sentiments. For example, the Tartars are 
taught, as matter of fact, that all men beyond their own 
tribes are their enemies, and would rob and murder them 
if they could; as long as this intellectual conviction lasts, 
strangers become the objects of their animal" resentment 
They are criminals, in their eyes, clearly convicted of 
deliberate purpose to rob and murder. In England, under 
Lord Ellenborough's act, when men are convicte.d in a 
court of this intention, they are delivered over to the hang" 



ON PUNISHMENT AS INP1CTED 

man to be executed; and we might as well maintain, as 
an abstract proposition, that the English are fond of hang- 
ing one another, as that the Tartars approve of robbery 
and murder. Strangers whom the latter maltreat in this 
manner, actually stand convicted in their minds of an in- 
tention of using them in that way if they could. The real 
method of arriving at a correct view of the question is to 
suppose the conviction complete in a Tartar's mind that 
other men love him, and make him an object of their most 
sedulous benevolence, and then ask him whether he ap- 
proves of robbing and murdering a benefactor? There is 
no instance of human nature,. in a state of sanity, regard- 
ing such a deed as virtuous. The moral law, therefore, 
when cleared of other principles that may act along with 
it, but are not part of it, is obviously universal and inflex- 
ible in its dictates. 

The views contained in this chapter were printed and 
distributed amongst a few friends in 1827, and I have 
been favored by them with several remarks. Two of 
these appear to me to merit a reply. , 

It -is objected, that, according to the moral system of 
treating offenders, punishment wouid.be abrogated and 
crime encouraged. 

I respectfully answer, that if this system be right in 
itself, and suited to the nature of man, it will carry in 
itself all the punishment that will be needed, or that can 
serve any beneficial end. I believe that to an individual 
whose mind consists chiefly of animal propensities and 
intellect, confinement, compulsory labor, and the enforce- 
ment of moral conduct, will be highly disagreeable, and 
that this is the punishment which the Creator designed 
should attend that unfortunate combination of mental 
qualities. It is analogous to the pain of a wound; the object 
of which is to induce the patient to avoid injuring himself 
again. The irksomeness and suffering to a criminal, in- 
separable from confinement and forced labor, are intended 
as inducements to him to avoid infringements of the moral 



UNDER THE NATURAL LAWS. 285 

law; and when perceived by himself to arise from the 
connection established by the Creator, between crime 
a<d the most humane means of restraining it, he will learn 
t< submit to its infliction, without those rebellious feelings 
vhich are generally excited by pure animal retribution. 
It appears to me that the call for more suffering than 
would accompany the moral method of treatment, pro- 
ceeds to a great extent from the yet untamed barbarism 
-of our own minds; just as it was the savageness of the 
hearts of our ancestors, which led them to demand torture 
and burning, as elements in their administration of crimi- 
nal justice. In proportion as the higher sentiments shall 
gain ascendency in society, severity will be less in de- 
mand, and its inutility will be more generally perceived. 
The Americans, in their penitentiaries, have set an admi- 
rable example to Europe in regard to criminal legislation. 
Their views still admit of improvement, but they have en- 
tered on the right path by which success is to be attained. 
Dr. Caldwell, of Lexington, has offered them excellent 
counsel, which I hope they will appreciate and follow. 

Another objection is, that the views now advocated, 
even supposing them to be true, are Utopian, and cannot 
be carried into effect in the present condition of society. 
I deny the first branch of this objection; but admit the 
second to be well founded. No system of morals which 
is true, can be Utopian, meaning by this term, visionary 
and impracticable. But a true system may not be practi- 
cable, on its first announcement, by a people who do not 
know one word of its principles, and whose guides sedu- 
lously divert their minds from studying it. Christianity 
itself has not yet been generally practised; but does any 
rational man on this account denounce it as Utopian and 
worthless? It would be folly to expect judges and juries 
to abandon the existing practice of criminal jurisprudence, 
and to adopt that which is here recommended, before 
they, and the society for whom they act, understand and 
approve of its principles; and no one who bears in mind 



286 ON PUNISHMENT. 

by what slow and laborious efforts truth makes its way, 
and how long a period is necessary before it can develope 
itself in practice, will expect any new system to triumph 
in the age in which it was first promulgated. I have 
frequently repeated in this work, that, by the moral law, 
we cannot enjoy the full fruits, even of our own intel- 
ligence and virtue, until our neighbors shall have been 
rendered as wise and amiable as ourselves. No reason 
able man, therefore, can expect to see the principles of 
this work, although true, generally diffused and adopted 
in society, until after the natural means of communicat- 
ing a knowledge of them, and producing a general con- 
viction of their truth and utility, shall have been perse- 
veringly used, for a period sufficient to accomplish this 
end. In the mean time, the established practices of 
society must be supported, if not respected, and he is no 
friend to the real progress of mankind, who, the moment 
after he has sown his moral principles, would insist on 
gathering the fruit before he has allowed summer and 
autumn to bring the produce to maturity. The rational 
philanthropist will zealously teach his principles, and 
introduce ^them into , practice as favorable opportunities 
occur, not doubting but that he will thereby sooner 
accomplish his object, than by making premature - attempts 
at realizing them, which must inevitably end in disap- 
pointment.* 

* The leading ideas of this chapter have been most ably and elo- 
quently followed out by Dr. Charles Caldwell of Lexington, Kentucky, 
in his " New Views of Penitentiary Discipline and Moral Education, 
and Reformation of Criminals," published at Philadelphia in 1829, and 
reprinted in the Phrenological Journal, vol. viii. pp. 385, 493. Mr. 
Simpson also has treated the subject with great ability in the Phreno- 
logical Journal, vol. ix. p. 481, and in the appendix to his work on 
the " Necessity of Popular Education," — a work in which he has ex- 
pounded and applied the principles of the present essay with much 
acuteness and felicity of illustration. 



MORAL ADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT 287 

SECTION II. 
MORAL ADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT 

After the intellect and moral sentiments have been 
brought to recognise the principles of the Divine admin- 
istration, so much wisdom, benevolence, and justice, are 
discernible in the natural laws, that our wjiole nature is 
ameliorated in undergoing the punishments annexed to 
them. Punishment endured by one individual also serves 
to warn others against transgression. These facts afford 
another proof that a grand object of the arrangements of 
creation is the improvement of the moral and intellectual 
nature of man. So strikingly conspicuous, indeed, is the 
ameliorating influence of suffering, that many persons 
have supposed this to be the primary object for which it 
is sent; a notion which, with great deference, appears to 
me to be unfounded in principle, and dangerous in prac- 
tice. If evils and misfortunes are mere mercies of 
Providence, it follows that a headache consequent on a 
debauch, is not intended to prevent repetition of drun- 
kenness, so much as to prepare the debauchee for cc the 
invisible world;" and that shipwreck in a crazy vessel is 
not designed to render the merchant more cautious, but 
to lead him to heaven. 

It is however undeniable, that in innumerable instances 
pain and sorrow are the direct consequences of our own 
misconduct; at the same time it is obviously benevolent 
in the Deity to render them beneficial directly, as a warn- 
ing against future transgression, and indirectly, as a 
means of purifying the mind. Nevertheless, if we shall 
imagine that in some instances it is dispensed as a direct 
punishment for particular transgressions, and in others, 
only on account of sin in general, and with the view of 
ameliorating the spirit of the sufferer, we shall ascribe 
inconsistency to the Creator, and expose ourselves to the 
danger of attributing our own afflictions to his favor, and 



288 MORAL ADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT. 

those of others to his wrath; thus fostering in our minds 
self-conceit and uncharitableness. Individuals who enter- 
tain the belief that bad health, worldly ruin, and sinister 
accidents, befalling them, are not punishments for in- 
fringement of the laws of nature, but particular manifesta- 
tions of the love of the Creator towards themselves, make 
slight inquiry into the natural causes of their miseries, 
and bestow few efforts to lemove them. In consequence, 
the chastisements endured by them, neither correct their 
own conduct, nor deter others from committing similar 
transgressions. Some religious sects, who espouse these 
notions, literally act upon them, and refuse to inoculate 
with the cow-pox to escape contagion, or take other 
means of avoiding natural calamities. Regarding these 
as dispensations of Providence, sent to prepare them for 
a future world, they conceive jthat the more of them that 
befall them the better. Further, these ideas, besides 
being repugnant to the common sense of mankind, are at 
variance with the principle that the world is arranged so 
as to favor virtue and discountenance vice; because 
favoring virtue meaus obviously that the favored virtuous 
will positively enjoy more happiness, and, negatively, 
suffer fewer misfortunes than the vicious. . The view, 
then, now advocated, appears less exceptionable, viz. that 
punishment serves a double purpose — directly to warn us 
against transgression, and indirectly, when rightly appre- 
hended, to subdue our lowier propensities, and purify and 
vivify our moral and intellectual powers. 

Bishop Butler coincides in this interpretation of natural 
calamities. 'Now,' says he, ' in the present state, all 
which we enjoy, and a great part of what we suffer, 
ls put in our power* For pleasure and pain are the _ 
consequences of our actions; and we are endued by the 
Author of our nature with capacities of foreseeing these 
consequences.' C I know not that we have any one kind. 

* These words are printed in Italics in the original. 



MORAL ADVANTAGES OF PUxNISHMENT. 289 

or degree of enjoyment, but by the means of our own 
actions. And, by prudence and care, we may, for the 
most part, pass our days in tolerable ease and quiet; or, 
on the contrary, we may, by rashness, ungoverned passion, 
Wilfulness, or even by negligence, make ourselves as mise- 
*abJe as ever ive please. And many do please to make 
themselves extremely miserable; i. e. they do what they 
know beforehand will render them so. They follow 
those ways, the fruit of which they know, by instruction, 
example, experience, will be disgrace, and poverty, and 
sickness, and untimely death. This every one observes 
to be the general course of things; though it is to be 
allowed, we cannot find by experience, that all our 
sufferings are owing to our own follies.' — Analogy, p. 40. 
In accordance with this last remark, I have treated of 
hereditary diseases; and evils resulting from convulsions 
of physical nature may be added to the same class. 

It has been objected that physical punishments, such 
as the breaking of an arm by a fall, are often so dispro- 
portionately severe, that the Creator must have had some 
other and more important object in view in appointing 
them, than for them to serve as mere motives to physical 
observance; and that that object must be to influence 
the mind of the sufferer, and draw his attention to con- 
cerns of higher import. 

In answer, I remark, that the human body is liable to 
destruction by severe injuries; and that the degree of 
suffering, in general, bears a just proportion to the 
danger connected with the transgression. Thus, a slight 
surfeit is attended only with headache or general uneasi- 
ness, because it does not endanger life; a fall on any 
muscular part of the body is followed either with no 
pain, or only a slight indisposition, for the reason that it 
is not seriously injurious to life; but when a leg or arm 
is broken, the pain is intensely severe, because the bones 
of these limbs stand high in the scale of utility to man'. 
The human body is so framed that it may fall nine times 

25 



290 MORAL ADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT. 

and suffer little damage, but the tenth time a limb ma) 
be broken, which will entail- a painful chastisement. By 
this arrangement the mind is kept alive to danger to such 
an extent, as to ensure general safety, while at the same 
time it is not overwhelmed with terror by punishments 
too severe and too frequently repeated. In particular 
states of the body, a slight wound may be followed by 
inflammation and death ; but these are not the results 
simply of the wound, but the consequences of a previous 
derangement of health, occasioned by departures .Irom 
the organic laws. 

On the whole, therefore, no adequate reason appears 
for regarding the consequences of physical accidents in 
any other light than as direct punishments for infringe- 
ment of the natural laws, and indirectly as a means of 
accomplishing moral and religious improvement. 

In the preceding chapters we have obtained glimpses 
of some of the sanctions of the moral law, which may be 
briefly recapitulated. If we obey it, we enjoy, in the 
first place, the highest gratifications of which our nature 
is susceptible, in habitual and sustained activity of our 
noblest faculties. Secondly, We become objects of es- 
teem and affection to our fellow men, and enjoy exalted 
social pleasure. Thirdly, Whatever we undertake, being 
projected in harmony with the course of nature, will 
prosper. Fourthly, By observing the moral law we shall 
place ourselves in the most favorable condition for obey- 
ing the organic law, and then enjoy health of body and 
buoyancy of mind. Fifthly, By obeying the moral, in- 
tellectual, and organic laws, we shall place ourselves in 
the best condition for observing the physical laws, and 
thereby reap countless benefits conferred by them. 

We need just to reverse the picture, to perceive, on 
the other hand, the penalties by which the Creator pun- 
shes infringements of the moral law. There is denial 
of that elevated, refined, and steady enjoyment which 



MORAL ADVANTAGES OF PUNISHMENT. 291 

springs from the supreme activity of the moral sentiments 
and intellect, and from the 'perception of the harmony 
between them and the institutions of creation. By in- 
fringing the moral law we become objects of dislike and 
aversion to our fellow men; and this carries denial of 
gratification to many of our social faculties. Whatever 
we undertake in opposition to the moral law, being an 
enterprise against the course of nature, cannojt succeed; 
I and its fruits must therefore be disappointment and vexa- 
tion. Inattention to the moral and intellectual law in- 
capacitates us for obedience to the organic and physical 
\ laws; and sickness, pain and poverty overtake us. The 
j whole scheme of creation, then, appears constituted for 
the purpose of enforcing obedience to the moral law; — 
virtue, religion and happiness, seem to be founded in the 
inherent constitution of the human faculties, and in the 
adaptation of the external world to them; and not to 
depend on the fancies, the desires, or the mere will of 
man. 



292 



CHAPTER VII. 

ON THE COMBINED OPERATION OF THE NATURAL 
LAWS. 

Having now unfolded several of the natural laws, and 
their effects, and having also attempted to show that each 
is inflexible and independent in itself, and requires abso- 
lute obedience, (so that a man who shall neglect the phy- 
sical law will suffer the physical punishment, although 
he may be very attentive to the moral law; that one who 
infringes the organic law will suffer organic punishment, 
although he may obey the physical law; and that a 
person who violates the moral law will suffer the *noral 
punishment, although he should observe the other two;) 
I proceed to show the mutual relationship among these 
laws, and to adduce some instances of their joint opera- 
tion. 

The defective administration of justice is a fertile 
source of human suffering in all countries; yet it is sur- 
prising how rude are the arrangements which are still in 
use, even in a free and enlightened country, for accom- 
plishing this important end. 

A Scotch jury in a civil cause, even in Edinburgh, 
now frequently presents the following particulars for 
observation. It consists of twelve men, eight or ten of 
whom are collected from the country, within a distance 
of twenty or thirty miles to the west, south, and east of 
the capital. These individuals hold the plough, wield 
the hammer or hatchet, or carry on some other useful 
and respectable but laborious occupation, for six days in 
the week. Their muscular systems are in constant exer 
cise, and their brains are rarely called on for any great 



ON THE OPERATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS. 293 

exertion. They are not accustomed to read, beyond 
the ]Jrt)le and a weekly newspaper; they are still less 
prepared to think; and in general they live much in 
the open air. 

In this condition, they are placed in the jury-box at 
ten o'clock in the morning, after having travelled proba- 
bly from seven to twenty-five miles to reach the court: 
counsel address long speeches to them; numerous wit- 
nesses are examined; and the cause is branched out into 
complicated details of fact, and wire-drawn distinctions 
in argument. The court is a small apartment, ill-venti- 
lated, and in consequence is generally crowded and over- 
heated. Without being allowed to take air, exercise, or 
food, they are confined to their seats till eight or ten in 
the evening, when they retire to return a verdict, by 
which they may dispose of thousands of pounds, and in 
which by law they must be unanimous. 

There is here a tissue of errors which could not exist 
for a day, if the natural laws were generally understood. 
First, The physical habits of such Jurors render their 
brains inactive, and their intellects in consequence inca- 
pable of attending to, and comprehending, complicated 
cases of fact and argument. Secondly, Their memories 
cannot retain the facts, while their skill in penmanship 
and literature is not sufficient to enable them to take 
notes; and their reflecting faculties are not capable of 
generalizing. Their education ami daily pursuits, there- 
fore, do not furnish them with principles of thinking, and 
power of mental action, sufficient to enable them to un- 
ravel the web of intricacies presented to their understand- 
ings. Thirdly, Protracted confinement in a close apart- 
ment, amidst vitiated air, operates injuriously on the most 
vivacious temperaments: — On such men it has a tenfold 
effect in lowering the action of the brain, and inducing 
mental incapacity, because it is diametrically opposed to 
their usual condition. Add to these considerations, that 
occasionally a jury trial lasts two, three, or even four 

25* 



294 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

days, each of which presents a repetition of the circum* 
stances 'here described; and then the reader may Judge 
whether such jurors are the fittest instruments, and in the 
best condition, for disposing of the fortunes of a people 
who boast of their love of justice, and their admirable 
institutions for obtaining it. 

The influence of the physical condition of a human 
being on his mental capacity seems never to have entered 
the imaginations of our legislators as a matter of impor- 
tance in the administration of justice. In the Circuit 
Courts of Scotland, the judges frequently sit for several 
days in succession in a crowded apartment, intently en- 
gaged in business, from ten o'clock in the morning till 
eight, ten, or twelve at night, without any proper inter 
mission or exercise. They go to their hotel at these late 
hours, dine, take wine, go to bed, and next morning re- 
sume their seats on the bench. Now, by the laws of their 
nature, which never cease to operate, the effect of this 
conduct is to impair the vigor of the moral and intellectual 
organs, and by constraint, want of exercise, and obstruc- 
tion of the bodily functions, to irritate and exalt the activ- 
ity of the animal organs; so that at the close of a circuit, 
the most excellent individual is physically deteriorated, 
and mentally incapacitated for the distribution of justice, 
compared with himself when he began his labors. It is 
accordingly matter of observation, that in proportion as 
a long and heavy session in circuit advances, irritability, 
impatience, and intellectual obscuration proceed part 
passu. The accused, therefore, who go to trial first, 
have a far higher chance of obtaining justice, than those 
who appear last on the roll. 

In these instances we observe infringements of the 
organic and moral laws, and the combined resultis, the 
maladministration of justice, of which the country so 
loudly complains. The proper remedies will be found in 
educating more effectually the people, in training them 
to the exercise of Jheir mental faculties, and in observing 



OF THE NATURAL LAWS. 295 

the organic laws in the structure of court-rooms, and in 
the proceedings thai take place within them. 

Another example of the combined operation of the 
natural laws is atforded by the great tires which occurred 
in Edinburgh in November 1824, when the Parliament 
Square and a part of the High Street were consumed. 
That calamity may be viewed in the following light: — - 
The Creator constituted England and Scotland, with such 
qualities, and placed them in such relationship, that the 
individuals of both kingdom's would be most happy in 
acting towards each other, and pursuing their separate 
vocations, under the supremacy of the moral sentiments. 
We have lived to see this practised, and to reap the re- 
wards of it. But the ancestors of the two nations did 
not believe in this constitution of the world, and they 
preferred acting on the principles of the propensities; 
that is to say, they waged furious wars, and committed 
wasting devastations on each other's properties and lives. 
It is obvious from history, that the two nations were 
equally ferocious, and delighted reciprocally in each 
other's calamities. This was clearly a violent infringe- 
ment of the moral law; and one effect of it was to render 
personal safety an object of paramount importance. The 
hill on which the Old Town of Edinburgh is built, was 
naturally surrounded by marshes, and presented a per- 
pendicular front to the west, capable of being crowned 
with a castle. It was appropriated with avidity, and the 
metropolis of Scotland was founded there, obviously and 
undeniably under the inspiration purely of the animal facul- 
ties. It was fenced round, and ramparts built to exclude 
the fierce warriors who then inhabited the country lying 
south of the Tweed, and also to protect the inhabitants 
from the feudal banditti who infested their own soil. The 
space within the walls, however, was limited and narrow; 
the attractions to the spot were numerous; and-to make 
the most of it, our ancestors erected the enormous masses 
of high, confused, and crowded buildings which now 



296 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

compose the High Street of this city, and the wynds, o 
alleys, on its two sides. These abodes, moreover, wen 
constructed to a great extent, of timber; for not only the 
joists and floors, but the partitions between the rooms, 
were made of massive wood. Our ancestors did all this 
in the perfect knowledge of the physical law, that wood 
ignited by fire not only is consumed itself, but envelopes 
in inevitable destruction ^very combustible object with- 
in its influence. Farther, their successors, even when 
necessity had ceased, persevered in the original error; 
and, in the perfect knowledge that every year added to 
the age of such fabrics increased their liability to burn, 
they not only allowed them to be occupied as shops filled 
with paper, spirits, and other highly combustible mate- 
rials, but let off the upper floors for brothels, introducing 
thereby into the heart of this magazine of conflagration, 
the most reckless and immoral of mankind. The consum- 
mation was the two tremendous fires of November 1824, 
the one originating in a whisky-cellar, and the other in a 
garret-brothel, which consumed the whole Parliament 
Square and a part of the High Street, destroying property 
to the extent of many thousands of pounds, and spreading 
misery and rum over a considerable part of the population 
of Edinburgh. Wonder, consternation, and awe, were 
forcibly excited at the vastness of this calamity; and in 
the sermons that were preached, and the dissertations 
that were written upon it, much was said of the inscruta- 
ble ways of Providence, that sent such visitations on the 
people, enveloping the innocent and the guilty in one 
common sweep of destruction. 

According to the exposition of the ways of Providence 
which I have ventured to give, there was nothing won- 
derful, nothing vengeful, nothing arbitrary, in the whole 
occurrence. The surprising thing was, that it did not 
take place generations before. The necessity for these 
fabrics originated in gross violation of the moral law; they 
were constructed in high contempt of the physical law. 



OF THE NATURAL LAWS. 297 

and, latterly, the moral law was set at defiance, by placing 
in them inhabitants abandoned to the worst habits of reck- 
lessness and intoxication. The Creator had bestowed on 
men faculties to perceive all this, and to avoid it, when- 
ever they chose to exert them; and the destruction that 
ensued was the punishment of following the propensities, 
in preference to the dictates of intellect and morality. 
The object of the destruction, as a natural event, was to 
lead men to avoid repetition of the offences: but the prin- 
ciples of the divine government are not yet comprehend- 
ed; — Acquisitiveness whispers that more money may be 
"made of houses consisting of five or six floors, under one 
roof, than of only two; and erections, the very counter- 
parts of the former, have since reared their heads oh the 
spot where the others stood, and, sooner or later, they 
also will be overtaken by the natural laws, which never 
slumber or sleep. 

The true method of arriving at a sound view of calami- 
ties of every kind, is to direct our attention, in the first 
instance, to the law of nature, from the operation of which 
they have originated; then to find out the uses and advan- 
tages of that law, when observed; and to discover whether 
the evils under consideration have arisen froA violation 
of it. In the present instance, we ought never to lose 
sight of the fact, that the houses in question stood erect, 
and the furniture in safety, by the very same law of grav- 
itation which made them topple to the foundation when it 
was infringed; that mankind enjoy all the benefits which 
result from the combustibility of timber ~s fuel, by the 
very same law which renders it a devouring element, 
when unduly ignited; that, by the same moral law, which, 
when infringed, leads to the necessity of ramparts, fortifi- 
cations, crowded lanes, and extravagantly high houses, 
we enjoy, now that we observe it better, that security of 
property and life which distinguishes modern Scotland 
from ancient Caledonia. 

This instance affords a striking illustration of the man- 



298 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

ner in which the physical and organic laws are constituted 
in harmony with, and in subserviency to, the moral law 
We see clearly that the leading cause of the construction 
of such erections as the houses in the Old Town of Edin- 
burgh (with the deprivation of free air, and liability to 
combustion that attend them), arose from the excessive 
predominance of Combativeness, Destructiveness, Self- 
Esteem, and Acquisitiveness, in our ancestors; and 
although the ancient personages who erected these mon- 
uments of animal supremacy, had no conception that, in 
doing so, they were laying the foundations of a severe 
punishment on themselves and their posterity, — yet, when 
we compare the comforts and advantages that would have 
accompanied dwellings constructed under the inspiration 
of Benevolence, Ideality, and enlightened Intellect, with 
the contaminating, debasing, and dangerous effects of 
their workmanship,- we perceive most clearly that our 
ancestors actually were the instruments of chastising 
their own transgressions, and of transmitting that chas- 
tisement to their posterity so long as the animal suprema- 
cy shall be prolonged. Another example may be given. 

Men, by uniting under one leader, may, in virtue of 
the social law, acquire prodigious advantages to them- 
selves, which singly they could not obtain; and I stated, 
that the condition under which the benefits of that law* 
were permitted, was, that the leader should know and 
obey the natural lawg that were conducive to success; 
that if he neglected these, then the same principle which 
gave the social body the benefit of his observing them, 
involved them in the punishment of his infringement; and 
that this was just, because, under the natural law, the 
leader must necessarily be chosen by the social body, and 
they were responsible for not attending to his natural 
qualities. Some illustrations of the consequences of 
neglect of this law may be stated, in which the mixed 
operation of the physical and moral laws will appear. 

During the French war, a squadron of English men 



OF THE NATURAL LAWS. 299 

of-war was sent to the Baltic with military stores, and, 
in returning home up the North Sea, they were beset, fof 
two or three days, by a thick fog. It was about the mid- 
dle of December, and no correct information was pos- 
sessed of their exact situation. Some of the commanders 
proposed lying-to all night, and proceeding only during 
day, to avoid running ashore unawares. The commodore 
was exceedingly attached to his wife and family, and 
stated his determination to pass Christmas with them in 
England, if possible, and ordered the ships to sail straight 
on their voyage. The very same night they all struck on 
• a sand-bank off the coast of Holland; two ships of the 
line were dashed to pieces, and every soul on board per- 
ished. The third ship drew less water, was forced over 
the bank by the waves and stranded on the beach; the 
crew was saved, but led to a captivity of many years' 
duration. Now, these vessels were destroyed under the 
physical laws; but this calamity owed its origin to the 
predominance of the animal over the moral and intellec- 
tual faculties in the commodore. The gratification which 
he sought to obtain was individual and selfish ; and, if his 
Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Intel- 
lect, had been as alert, and carried as forcibly home to 
his mind the operation of the physical laws, and the 
welfare of the men under his charge; nay, if these facul- 
ties had been sufficiently alive to see the danger to which 
he exposed his own life, and the happiness of his own 
wife and children, — he never could have followed the 
precipitate course which consigned himself, and so many 
brave men, to a watery grave, within a few hours after 
his resolution was formed. 

Very lately the Ogle Castle East Indiaman was offered 
a pilot coming up the Channel, but the captain refused 
assistance, professing his own skill to be sufficient. In a 
few hours the ship ran aground on a sand-bank, and eve- 
ry human being on board perished in the waves. This 
also arose from the physical laws, but the unfavorable 



300 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

operation of it sprung from Self-Esteem, pretending to 
knowledge which the intellect did not possess; and as 
it is only by the latter that obedience can be yielded to 
the physical laws, the destruction of the ship was indirect- 
ly the consequence of infringement of the moral and intel- 
lectual laws. 

An old sailor, whom I lately met on the Q,ueensferry 
passage, told me, that he had been nearly fifty years at 
sea, and once was in a fifty-gun ship in the West Indies. 
The captain, he said, was a 'fine man;' he knew the 
climate, and foresaw a hurricane coming, by its natural 
signs; and, on one occasion, in particular, he struck the 
topmasts, lowered the yards, lashed the guns, and made 
each man supply himself with food for thirty-six hours; 
and scarcely was this done when the hurricane came. 
The ship lay for four hours on her beam ends in the 
water, but all was prepared; the men were kept in vigor 
during the storm, and fit for every exertion; the ship at 
last righted, suffered little damage, and proceeded on her 
voyage. The fleet which she convoyed was dispersed, 
and a great number of the ships foundered. Here we 
see the supremacy of the moral and intellectual faculties, 
and discover to what a surprising extent they present a 
guarantee, even against the fury of the physical elements 
in their highest state of agitation. 

A striking illustration of the kind of protection afforded 
by high moral and intellectual qualities, even amidst the 
most desperate physical circumstances, is furnished by 
the following letter written by the late Admiral Lord 
Exmouth to a friend. ' Why do you ask me to relate the 
wreck of the Button?' says his Lordship. ' Susan (Lady 
Exmouth) and I were driving to a dinner party at Ply- 
mouth, when we saw crowds running to the Hoe, and 
learning it was a wreck, I left the carriage to , take her 
on, and joined the crowd. I saw the loss <)f the whole 
five or six hundred men was inevitable without somebody 
♦o direct them, for the last officer was pulled on shore a* 



OF THB NATURAL LAWS 301 

1 reached the surf. I urged their return, which was re- 
fused; upon which I made the rope fast to myself, and 
was hauled through the surf on board, — established order, 
and did not leave her until every soul was saved but the 
boatswain, who would not go before me. I got safe, and 
so did he, and the ship went all to pieces.' 

Indeed there is reason to believe that the human intel- 
lect will, in time, be able, by means of science and obser- 
vation, to arrive at a correct anticipation of approaching 
storms, and thus obtain protection against their effects. 

* The New Zealanders, it is said, by the accuracy of 
their observations, predict the changes of the weather with 
extraordinary skill. One evening when Captain Cruise 
and some of his friends were returning from a long ex 
cursion up one of the rivers, although the sky was at the 
time without a cloud, a native, who sat in the boat with 
them, remarked, that there would be heavy rain the next 
day; a prediction which they were the more inclined to 
believe by finding, when they returned on board the 
6hip, that the barometer had fallen very much, and which 
the deluge of the following morning completely con- 
firmed,^ 

The utility of the marine barometer, or the sympie- 
someter, in indicating approaching storms, is strikingly 
illustrated by the following extract from the Edinburgh 
Philosophical Journal. 

'The correspondent (Mr. Stevenson, civil engineer) to 
whom we are indebted for the notice regarding the Scotch 
fisheries, inserted in this number (p. 129), informs us, 
that having occasion, towards the conclusion of his voy- 
age, in the beginning of September last, to visit the Isle 
of Man, he beheld the interesting spectacle of about three 
hundred large fishing-boats, each from fifteen to twenty 
tons' burden, leaving their various harbors at thai island 
in an apparently fine afternoon, and standing directly out 

* Library of Entertaining Knowledge ; the New Zealanders, p. 381 

26 



302 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

to sea, with the intention of prosecuting the fishery undel 
night. He at the same time remarked, that both the 
common marine barometer, and Adie's sympiesometer, 
which were in the cabin of his vessel, indicated an ap- 
proaching change of weather, the mercury falling to 29.5 
inches. It became painful, therefore, to witness the 
scene; more than a thousand industrious fishermen, lulled 
to security by the fineness of the day, scattering their 
little barks over the face of the ocean, and thus rushing 
forward to imminent danger, or probable destruction. At 
sunset, accordingly, the sky became cloudy and threat- 
ening ; and in the course of the night it blew a very hard 
gale, which afterwards continued for three days succes- 
sively. This gale completely dispersed the fleets of boats, 
and it was not without the utmost difficulty that many of 
them reached the various creeks of the island. It is be- 
lieved no lives were lost on this occasion; but the boats 
were damaged, much tackle was destroyed, and the men 
were unnecessarily exposed to danger and fatigue. Dur- 
ing the same, storm, it may be remarked, thirteen vessels 
were either totally lost or stranded between the Isle of 
Anglesey and St. Bee's Head in Lancashire. Mr. Ste- 
venson remarks, how much it is to be regretted that the 
barometer is so little in use in the mercantile marine of 
Great Britain, compared with the trading vessels of Hol- 
land; and observes, that though the common marine 
barometer is perhaps too cumbersome for the ordinary 
run of fishing and coasting vessels, yet Adie's sympie- 
someter is so extremely portable, that it may be carried 
even in a Manx boat. Each lot of such vessels has a 
commodore, under whose orders the fleet sails: it would 
therefore be a most desirable thing that a sympiesometer 
should be attached to each commodore's boat, from which 
a preconcerted signal of an expected gale or change of 
weather, as indicated by the sympiesometer, could easily 
be given ' — Edin. Phil. Journ. ii. 196. See also Dr 
Neil ArnoVs Elements of Physics, vol. i. p. 350. 



OF THE NATURAL LAWS. 305 

One of the most instructive illustrations of the connec- 
tion between the different natural laws is presented in 
Captain Lyon's Brief Narrative of an unsuccessful at- 
tempt to reach Repulse Bay, in his Majesty's ship Griper, 
in the year 1824. 

Captain Lyon mentions, that he sailed in the Griper 
on 13th June 1824, in company with his Majesty's sur- 
veying vessel Snap, as a store-tender. The Griper was 
180 tons burden, and ' drew 16 feet 1 inch abafl, and 
15 feet 10 inches forward.' — On the 26th, he ' was sorry 
to observe that the Griper, from her great depth and 
and sharpness forward, pitched very deeply.' — She sailed 
so ill, that, ' in a stiff breeze, and with studding-sails set, 
he was unable to get above four knots an hour out of 
her, and she was twice whirled round in an eddy in the 
Pentland Firth, from which she could not escape.' — On 
the 3d July, he says, ' being now fairly at sea, I caused 
the Snap to take us in tow, which I had declined doing 
as we passed up the east coast of England, although 
our little companion had much difficulty in keeping under 
sufficiently low sail for us, and by noon we had passed 
the Stack Back.' ' The Snap was of the greatest assist- 
ance, the Griper frequently towing at the rate of five 
knots, in cases where she would have not gone three.' — 
1 On the forenoon of the 16th, the Snap came and took 
us in tow; but, at noon on the 17th, strong breezes and 
a heavy swell obliged us again to cast off. We scudded 
while able, but our depth in the water caused us to ship 
so many heavy seas, that I most reluctantly brought to 
under storm stay-sails. This was rendered exceedingly 
mortifying, by observing that our companion was per- 
fectly dry, and not affected by the sea.' — ■ When our 
stores were all on board, we found our narrow decks 
completely crowded by them. The gangways, forecastle, 
and abafl the mizzen-mast, were filled with casks, haw- 
sers, whale-lines, and stream-cables, while on our strait- 
ened lower decks we were obliged to place casks and 



304 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

other stores, in every part but that allotted to the ship's 
company's mess-tables; and even my cabin had a quantity 
of things stowed away in it.' — ' It may be proper to 
mention, that the Fury and Hecla, which were enabled 
to stow three years' provisions, were each exactly double 
the size of the Griper, and the Griper carried two years' 
and a-half's provisions.' 

Arrived in the Polar Seas, they were visited by a 
storm, of which Captain Lyon gives the following de- 
scription: — c We soon, however, came to fifteen fathoms, 
and I kept right away, but had then only ten; when, being 
unable to see far around us, and observing, from the 
whiteness of the water, that we were on a bank, I rounded 
to at 7 a. m., and tried to bring up with the starboard- 
anchor and seventy fathoms chain, but the stiff breeze 
and heavy sea caused this to part in half an hour, and 
we again made sail to the north-eastward; but, finding 
we came suddenly to seven fathoms, and that the ship 
could not possibly work out again, as she would not face 
the sea, or keep steerage-way on her, I most reluctantly 
brought her up with three bowers and a stream in suc- 
cession, yet not before we had shoaled to five and a-half. 
This was between 8 and 9 a. m., the ship pitching bows 
under, and a tremendous sea running. At noon, the 
starboard-bower anchor parted, but the others held. 

1 As there was every reason to fear the falling of the 
tide, which we knew to be from twelve to fifteen feet on 
this coast, and in that case the total destruction of the 
ship. I caused the long-boat to be hoisted out, and, with 
the four smaller ones, to be stored to a certain extent 
with arms and provisions. T^e officers drew lots for 
their respective boats, and the ship's company were sta- 
tioned to them. 'The long-boat having been filled full 
of stores which could not be put below, it became requi- 
site to throw them overboard, as there urns no room for 
them on our very small and crowded decks, over which heavy 
teas were constantly sweeping. In making these prepara- 



OF THE NATURAL LAWS. 305 

tions for taking to the boats, it was evident to all, that 
the long-boat was the- only one that had the slightest 
chance of living under the lee of the ship, should she be 
wrecked; but every man and officer drew his lot with the 
greatest composure, though two of our boats would have 
swamped the instant they were lowered. Yet, such was 
the noble feeling of those around me, that it was evident, 
that, had I ordered the boats in question to be manned, 
their crews would have entered them without a murmur. 
In the afternoon, on the weather clearing a little, we 
discovered a low beach all around astern of us, on which 
the surf was running to an awful height, and it appeared 
evident that no human power could save us. At 3 p. m., 
the tide had fallen to twenty-two feet, (only six more than- 
we drew,) and the ship, having been lifted by a tremendous 
sea, struck with great violence the length of her keel. This 
we naturally conceived was the forerunner of her total 
wreck, and we stood in readiness to take the boats, and 
endeavor to hang under her lee. She continued to strike 
with sufficient force to have burst any less fortified ves- 
sel, at intervals of a few minutes whenever an unusual 
heavy sea passed us. And, as the water was so shallow, 
these might be called breakers rather than waves, for 
each in passing burst with great force over our gangways, 
and, as every sea ' topped,' our decks were continually, 
and frequently deeply, flooded. All hands took a little 
refreshment, for some had scarcely been below for twenty- 
four hours, and I had not been in bed tor three nights 
Although few or none of us had any idea that we should 
survive the gale, we did not think that our comforts 
should be entirely neglected, and an order was therefore 
given to the men to put on their best and warmest cloth- 
ing, to enable them to support life as long as possible. 
Every man, therefore, brought his bag on deck, and 
dressed himself; and in the fine athletic forms which stood 
before me, I did not see one muscle quiver, nor the slight- 
est sigi of alarm. The officers each secured some useful 

2 6 # 



306 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

instrument about them, for the purpose of observation, 
although it was acknowledged by all that not the slight- 
est hope remained. And now that every thing in our 
power had been done, I called all hands aft, and to a 
merciful God offered prayers for our preservation. I 
thanked every one for his excellent conduct, and cau- 
tioned them, as we should, in all probability, soon appear 
before our Maker, to enter his presence as men resigned 
to their fate. We then all sat down in groups, and, shel- 
tered from the wash of the sea by whatever we could 
find, many of us endeavored to obtain a little sleep. 
Never, perhaps, was witnessed a finer scene than on the 
deck of my little ship, when all the hope of life had left 
us. Noble as the character of the British sailor is always 
allowed to be in cases of danger, yet I did not believe it 
to be possible, that, amongst forty-one persons, not on*, 
repining word should have been uttered. The officers 
sat about, wherever they could find a shelter from the 
sea, and the men lay down conversing with each othei 
with the most perfect calmness. Each was at peace with 
his neighbor and all the world, and I am firmly per- 
suaded that the resignation which was then shown to the 
will of the Almighty, was the means of obtaining his 
mercy. At about 6 p. m., the rudder, which had already 
received some very heavy blows, rose, and broke up the 
after-lockers, and this was the last severe shock that the 
ship received. We found by the well that she made no 
water, and by dark she struck no more. God was mer- 
ciful to us, and the tide, almost miraculously, fell no lower. 
At dark heavy rain fell, but was borne in patience, for it 
beat down the gale, and brought with it a light air from 
the northward. At 9 p. m. the water had deepened to five 
fathoms. The ship kept off the ground all night, and our 
exhausted crew obtained some broken rest.' — P. 76. 

In humble gratitude for his deliverance, he calleit the 
place ' The Bay of God's mercy,' and { offered up taankg 
and praises to God, for the mercy he had shown to as ' 



OP THE NATURAL LAWS. 307 

On 12th September, they had another gale of wind, 
with cutting showers of sleet, and a heavy sea. ' Jh 
such a moment as this,' says Captain Lyon, ' we had fresh 
cause to deplore the extreme dulness of the Griper's sailing; 
for though almost any other vessel woidd have worked off 
this lea-shore, we made little or no progress on a wind, but 
remained actually pitching, forecastle under, with scarcely 
steerage-way, to preserve which, I was ultimately obliged 
to keep her nearly two points off the wind.' — P. 98. 

Another storm overtook them, which is described as 
follows: — 'Never shall I forget the dreariness of this 
most anxious night. Our ship pitched at such a rate, that 
it was not possible to stand, even below; while on deck 
we were unable to move, without holding by ropes, which 
were stretched from side to side. The drift snow flew 
in such sharp heavy flakes, that we could not look to 
windward, and it froze on deck to above a foot in depth. 
The sea made incessant breaches quite fore and aft the 
ship, and the temporary warmth it gave while it washed 
over us, was most painfully checked, by its almost imme- 
diately freezing on our clothes. To these discomforts 
were added the horrible uncertainty as to whether the 
cables would hold until daylight, and the conviction also, 
that if they failed us, we should instantly be dashed to 
pieces, the wind blowing directly to the quarter in which 
we knew the shore must lie. Again, should they con- 
tinue to hold us, we feared, by the ship's complaining so 
much forward, that the bitts would be torn up, or that 
she would settle down at her anchors, overpowered by 
some of the tremendous seas which burst over her. At 
dawn on the 13th, thirty minutes after four a. m., we 
found that the best bower cable had parted; and, as the 
gale now blew with terrific violence from the north, there 
was little reason to expect that the other anchors would 
hold long; or, if they did, we pitched so deeply, and lifted 
so great a body of water each time, that it was feared the 
windlass and forecastle would be torn up, or she^ must go 



308 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

down at her anchors: although the ports were knocked 
out, and a considerable portion of the bulwark cut away, 
she could scarcely discharge one sea before shipping 
another, and the decks were frequently flooded to an 
alarming depth. 

- At six a. m. all farther doubts on this particular 
account were at an end; for, having received two over- 
whelming seas, both the other cables went at the same 
moment, and we were left helpless, without anchors, or 
any means of saving ourselves, should the shore, as we 
had every reason to expect, be close astern. And here, 
again, I had the happiness of witnessing the same gene- 
ral tranquillity as was shown on the 1st of September. 
There was no outcry that the cables were gone ; but my 
friend Mr. Manico, with Mr. Carr the gunner, came aft 
as soon as they recovered their legs, and, in the lowest 
whisper, informed me that the cables had all parted. 
The ship, in trending to the wind, lay quite down on her 
broadside, and, as it then became evident that nothing 
held her, and that she was quite helpless, each man 
instinctively took his station; while the seamen at the 
leads, having secured themselves as well as was in their 
power, repeated their soundings, on which our preserva- 
tion depended, with as much composure as if we had been 
entering a friendly port. Here, again, that Almighty 
power, which had before so mercifully preserved us, 
granted us his protection.' — P. 100. 

Nothing can be more interesting and moving than this 
narrative; it displays a great predominance of the moral 
sentiments and intellect, but sadly unenlightened as to 
the natural laws. I have quoted, in Captain Lyon's own 
words, his description of the Griper, loaded to such ex- 
cess that she drew 16 feet water; that she was incapable 
of sailing; that she was whirled round in an eddy in the 
Pentland Frith; that seas broke over her which did not 
wet the deck of the little Snap, not half her size. Cap- 
tain Lyon knew all this *ul also the roughness of the 



OP THE NATURAL LAWS. 

climate to which he was steering; and, with these out- 
rages of the physical law staring him in the face, he 
proceeded on his voyage, without addressing, so far as 
we perceive, one remonstrance to the Lords of the Admi- 
ralty on the subject of this infringement of every princi- 
ple of common prudence. My opinion is, that Captain 
Lyon was not blind to the errors committed in his equip- 
ment, or to their probable consequences; but that his 
powerful sentiment of Veneration, combined with Cau- 
tiousness and Love of Approbation (misdirected in this 
instance), deprived him of courage to complain to the 
Admiralty, through fear of giving offence: or that, if he 
did complain, they have prevented him from stating the 
fact in his narrative. To the tempestuous north he sail- 
ed; and his greatest dangers were clearly referable to 
the very infringements of the physical laws which he 
describes. When the tide ebbed, his ship reached to 
within six feet of the bottom, and, in the hollow of every 
wave, struck with great violence: but she was loaded at 
least four feet too deeply, by his own account, so that, if 
he had done his own duty, she would have had four feet 
of additional water, or ten feet in all, between her and 
the bottom, even in the hollow of the wave, — a matter of 
the very last importance, in such a critical situation. In- 
deed, with four feet more water, she would not have 
struck. Besides, if less loaded, she would have struck 
less violently. Again, when pressed upon a lea-shore, 
her incapability of sailing was a most obvious cause of 
danger: in short, if Providence is to be regarded as the 
cause of these calamities, there is no impropriety which 
man can commit, that may not, on the same principles, 
be charged against the Creator. 

But the moral law again shines forth in delightful 
splendor, in the conduct of Captain Lyon and his crew, 
when in the most forlorn condition. Piety, resignation, 
and manly resolution, then animated them to the noblest 
efforts. On the principle, that the power of accommo- 

T 



S10 ON THE COMBINED OPERATION 

dating our conduct to the natural laws, depends m the 
activity of the moral sentiments and intellect, and that the 
more numerous the faculties that are excited, the greater 
is the energy communicated to the whole system, I would 
say, that while Captain Lyon's sufferings were, in a great 
degree, brought on by his infringements of the physical 
laws, his escape was, in a great measure, prompted by 
his obedience to the moral law; and that Providence, 
in the whole occurrences, proceeded on the broad and 
general principle, which sends advantage uniformly as 
the reward of obedience, and evil as the punishment of 
infringement, of every particular law of creation. 

That storms and tempests have been instituted for some 
benevolent end, may, perhaps, be acknowledged, when 
their causes and effects are" fully known, which at present 
is not the case. But, even amidst all our ignorance of 
these, it is, surprising how small a portion of evil they 
would occasion, if men obeyed the laws which are actual- 
ly ascertained. How many ships perish from being sent 
to sea in an old worn out condition, and ill equipped, 
through mere Acquisitiveness; and how many more, from 
captains and crews being chosen who are greatly deficient 
in knowledge, intelligence, and morality, in consequence 
of which they infringe the physical laws. The London 
Courier, of 29th April 1834, contained a list often British 
brigs of war, mostly employed as packet ships, which had 
foundered at sea within the preceding twelve years, owing 
to bad construction and bad condition; while, it remarked 
that not one .American private packet ship, out of the vasl 
number constantly sailing between Liverpool and New 
York, is recollected to have perished in that manner. 
Such facts show in how small a degree nature is to 
blame forthe calamities of shipwreck, and to how great an 
extent they arise from human negligence and folly. We 
ought to look to all these matters, before complaining of 
storms as natural institutions. 

The last example of the mixed operation of the natun 



1 



" 



OP THE NATURAL LAWS. 311 

laws which I shall notice, is that which followed from the 
mercantile distresses of 1825-6. I have traced the origin 
of that visitation to excessive activity of Acquisitiveness, 
and a general ascendency of the animal and selfish facul- 
ties over the moral and intellectual powers. The punish- 
ments of these offences were manifold. The excesses 
infringed the moral law, and the chastisement for this was 
deprivation of the tranquil steady enjoyment that flows 
only from the sentiments, with severe suffering in the ruin 
of fortune and blasting of hope. These disappointments 
produced mental anguish and depression; which occasion- 
ed unhealthy action in the brain. The action of the brain 
being disturbed, a morbid nervous influence was trans- 
mitted to the whole corporeal system; bodily disease was 
superadded to mental sorrow, and, in some instances, the 
unhappy sufferers committed suicide to escape from these 
aggravated evils. Under the organic law, the children 
produced in this period of mental depression, bodily dis- 
tress, and organic derangement, will inherit weak bodies, 
with feeble and irritable minds; — a hereditary chastise- 
ment of their father's transgressions. 

In the instances now given, we discover the various 
laws acting in perfect harmony, and in subordination to 
the moral and intellectual. If our ancestors had not 
forsaken the supremacy of the moral sentiments, such 
fabrics as the houses in the old town of Edinburgh never 
would have been built; and if the modern proprietors had 
returned, to that law, and kept profligate and drunken 
inhabitants out of them, the conflagration might still have 
been avoided. In the case of the ships, we saw, that 
wherever intellect and sentiment had been relaxed, and 
animal motives permitted to assume the supremacy, evil 
tiad speedily followed; and that where the higher powers 
were called forth, safety had been obtained. And, final- 
ly, in the case of the merchants and manufacturers, we 
traced their calamities directly to placing Acquisitiveness 
and Ambition above Intellect and Moral Sentiment. 



112 ON THE OPERATION OF THE NATURAL LAWS 

Formidable and appalling, then, as these punishments 
are, yet, when we attend to the laws under which they 
occur, and perceive that the object and legitimate opera- 
tion of every one of these laws, when observed, is to pro- 
duce happiness to man; and that the punishments have the 
sole object in view of forcing him back to this enjoyment, 
we cannot, under the supremacy of the moral sentiments 
and intellect, fail to bow in humility before t-bem, as at 
once wise, just, and benevolent. 



313 



CHAPTER VIII. 

INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS ON THE HAPPI- 
NESS OF INDIVIDUALS. 

A formidable objection has often been stated against 
the Natural Laws, namely, that although, when viewed 
abstractly, they appear beneficent and just, yet, when 
applied to individuals, they are undeniably the causes 
of extensive, severe, and unavoidable suffering; so that 
while, theoretically, the moral horizon appears to be 
cleared up, nevertheless, practically and substantially, 
the obscurity and intricacy remain undiminished. In 
answer, I have to observe, that, as the whole is just an 
aggregate of all the parts, if any natural institution, when 
viewed in its operation in regard to the race, is found to 
be just and beneficent, it cannot well be cruel and unjust 
to individuals, who are the component parts of that whole; 
and this, accordingly, I humbly conceive to admit of 
something approaching to demonstration. The form of 
dialogue is perhaps the best way of illustrating the sub- 
ject, and if, in imitation of some of the classic fables, we 
suppose the suffering individuals to make an appeal to 
Jupiter, the law of gravitation may be thus exemplified. 

It happened in a remote period, that a slater slipped 
from the roof of a high building, in consequence of a 
stone of the ridge having given way as he walked upright 
along it; he fell to the ground, had a leg broken, and was 
otherwise severely bruised. As he lay in bed suffering 
severe pain from his misfortune, he addressed Jupiter in 
these words: 'O Jupiter, thou art a cruel god, for thou 
hast made me so frail and imperfect a being, that I had 
not faculties to perceive my danger, nor power to arrest 
my fall when its occurrence showed how horrible an evil 

27 



814 INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS 

awaited me. It were better for me that I had never 
been.' Jupiter, graciously bending his ear, heard the 
address, and answered: c Of what law of mine dost thou 
complain?' { Of the law of gravitation,' replied the slater; 
' by its operation, the slight slip which my foot made upon 
the stone, which, quite unknown to me, was loose, pre- 
cipitated me to the earth, and crushed my organized 
frame, never calculated to resist such violence.' ' I re- 
store thee to thy station on the roof,' said Jupiter, * heal 
all thy bruises, and, to convince thee of my benevolence, 
I suspend the law of gravitation as to thy body and all 
that is related to it; art thou now content?' 

The slater, in deep emotion, offered up gratitude and 
thanks, and expressed the profoundest reverence for so 
just and beneficent a deity. In the very act of doing so, 
he found himself in perfect health, erect upon the ridge 
of the roof, and, rejoicing, gazed around. His wonder, 
at so strange an event, having at last abated, he endeav- 
ored to walk along the ridge to arrive at the spot which 
he intended to repair: But the law of gravitation was sus- 
pended; and his body did not press upon the roof. There 
being no pressure, there was no resistance, and his legs 
moved backwards and forwards in the air without his body 
making progress in space. Alarmed at this occurrence, 
he stooped, seized his trowel, lifted it full of mortar, 
and made the motion of throwing it on the slates; but the 
mortar, freed from the trowel, hung in mid air; the law 
of gravitation was suspended as to it also. Nearly frantic 
with terror at such unexpected novelties of existence, he 
endeavored to descend to seek relief; but the law of gravi- 
tation was suspended as to his body, and it hung poised 
at the level of the ridge, like a balloon in the air. He 
tried to fling himself headlong down, to get rid of the 
uneasy sensation, but his body floated erect, and would 
not move downwards. 

In an agony of consternation, he called once more upon 
Jupiter. He, ever kind and compassionate, heard his 



ON THE HAPPINESS OF INDIVIDUALS. 315 

cry and pitied his distress, and asked, * What evil hath 
befallen thee now, that thou art not yet content; have 1 
not suspended, at thy request, the law which made thee 
fall? Now thou art safe from bruises and from broken 
limbs; why, then, dost thou still complain?' 

The slater answered, * In deep humiliation, I acknow- 
ledge my ignorance and presumption; restore me to my 
couch of pain, but give me back the benefits of thy law 
of gravitation.' 

1 Thy wish is granted,' said Jupiter in reply. The 
slater in a moment lay on his bed of sickness, endured 
the visitation of the organic law, was restored to health, 
and again mounted to the roof that caused his recent 
pain. He thanked Jupiter anew from the depths of his 
soul, for the law of gravitation, with its countless benefits; 
and applied his faculties to study and obey it during the 
remainder of his life. This study opened up to him new 
and wonderful perceptions of the Creator's beneficence 
and wisdom, of which he had never even dreamed before; 
these views so excited and gratified his moral and intel- 
lectual powers, that he seemed to himself to have entered 
on a new existence. Ever after he observed the law of 
gravitation, and, in a good old age, when his organic 
frame was fairly worn out by natural decay, he transmit- 
ted his trade, his house, and much experience and wis- 
dom, to his son, and died thanking and blessing Jupiter 
for having opened his eyes to the true theory of his 
scheme of creation. 

The attention of Jupiter was next attracted, by the 
loud groans and severe complaints of a husbandman, who 
addressed him thus: c O Jupiter, I lie here racked with 
pain, and pass the hours in agony without relief. Why 
hast thou created me so miserable a being?' Jupitef 
answered, ' What aileth thee, and of what institution of 
mine dost thou complain?' The husbandman replied, 
<The earth which thou hast made will yield me no food, 
unless I till and sow it; and no increase, except it be 



316 INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS 

watered by thy rain. While I guided my plough in obe 
dience to thy law, thy rain came, and it fell not only on 
the earth, but on me; it penetrated through the clothes 
which I had been obliged to make for myself, because 
thou hadst left me naked; it cooled my skin, which thou 
hadst rendered delicate and sensible; it disordered all 
the functions of my organized frame, and now rheumatic 
fever parches my blood, and agonizes every muscle. O 
Jupiter, thou art not a kind father to thy children. 5 

Jupiter heard the complaint, and graciously replied, 
My physical and organic laws were established for thy 
advantage and enjoyment, and thou hast grievously 
infringed them; the pain thou sufferest is intended to 
reclaim thee to thy duty, and I have constituted thy duty 
the highest Joy of thy existence; but say, what dost thou 
desire? 5 

The husbandman answered, ' What, O Jupiter, signify 

he purposes of thy laws to me, when thou hast denied 

me faculties to discover and obey them ? — Frail and 

fallible as I am, they cause me only pain; deliver me from 

their effects, and I ask no other boon. 5 

■ Thy prayer is granted, 5 said Jupiter; ' I restore thee 
to perfect health, and, for thy gratification, I suspend 
the laws that have offended thee. Henceforth water 
shall not wet thee or thine, thv skin shall feel cold no 
more, and thy muscles shall never ache. Art thou now 
contented? 5 

'Most gracious Jupiter, 5 said the husbandman, 'my 
soul is ' melted with deepest gratitude, and I now adore 
thee as supremely good. 5 

While he spoke he found himself afield behind his 
team, healthful and vigorous, jocund and gay, and again 
blessed Jupiter for his merciful dispensation. The sea- 
son was spring, when yet the chill blast of the north, the 
bright blaze of a powerful sun, and rain, interchange in 
quick and varying succession. He drove his plough 
along, the rain descended, but it wet not him; the sharp 



ON THE HAPPINESS OF INDIVIDUALS. 317 

fvinds blew, but they chilled no fibre in his frame ; the 
flood of heat next poured upon his brow, but no sweat 
started from its pores; the physical and organic laws 
were suspended as to him. 

Rejoicing in his freedom from annoyance and pain, he 
returned gladly home to meet his smiling family, after 
the labors of the day. It had been his custom in the 
evening to put off the garments in which during day he 
had toiled, to clothe himself in linen fresh from the fold; 
to sup on milk prepared by his wife, with savory fruits 
and spices; and to press his children to his bosom with all 
the fervor of a parent's love: and he used to feel a thrill 
of pleasure pervading every nerve, as they acknowledged 
and returned the affectionate embrace. 

He looked to find the linen clean, cool, delicately 
dressed, and lying in its accustomed place; but it was not 
there. He called to his wife to fetch it, half chiding her 
for neglect. With wonder and dismay depicted in every 
feature, she narrated a strange adventure. With the 
morning sun she had risen to accomplish her wonted 
duty, but, although the water wetted every thread that 
clothed other individuals, it moistened not a fibre of his. 
She boiled it on a powerful fire, and applied every means 
that affection, enlightened by intellect, could devise, but 
the result was still the same; water glided over his 
clothes, and would not wet them. ' The physical law' 
(said the husbandman within himself) l is suspended as to 
me; henceforth water wetteth not me and mine.' He 
said no more, but placed himself at table, and smiled over 
his lovely family. Pie lifted his youngest child upon his 
knee, a girl just opening in her bloom, pressed her to his 
bosom, and kissed her ruddy cheek. But he started 
when he experienced no sensation. He saw her with his 
eyes, and heard her speak, but had no feeling of her 
presence. His knee was as stone; his bosom as marble; 
and his lips as steel; no sensation penetrated through his 
ckin. He placed her on the floor, looked wistfully on her 

<27* 



318 INFLUENCE OF THE NATDRAL LAWS 

form, graceful, vivacious, and instinct with love, and, as 
if determined to enjoy the well remembered pleasure now 
withheld, he clasped her to his bosom with an embrace 
so ardent that she screamed with pain. Still he was all 
adamant; no sensation reached his soul. He sent her 
away, heaved a deep sigh, and again the thought entered 
his very soul, that ' the organic law is suspended as to 
me.' Recollecting well the sweet gratifications of his 
evening, meal, he seized a bowl, anjl delicately began to 
sip, exciting every papilla of the tongue to catch the 
grateful flavor. But no flavor reached his mind; the 
liquid glided over his gustatory organs like quicksilver 
over the smooth surface of a mirror, without impression, 
and without leaving a trace behind. He started now in 
horror, and his spirit sank within him, when he thought 
that henceforth he should live without sensation. He 
rushed into the fields, and called aloud on Jupiter,. ■ O 
Jupiter, I am the most miserable of men; I am a being 
without sensation. Why hast thou made me thus?' 

Jupiter heard his cry, and answered, c I have suspend- 
ed the physical and organic laws, to which thou ascribedst 
thy fever and thy pain; henceforth no pang shall cause 
thy nerves to shrink, or thy muscles to quiver ; why, then, 
art thou thus unhappy, and why discontented with thy 
new condition?' 

'O Jupiter,' replied the husbandman, * but thou hast 
taken away from me sensation; I no longer feel the 
grateful breath of morn fanning my cheek as I drive my 
team afield; the rose diffuses its fragrance for me in vain; 
the ruddy grape, the luscious fig, the cooling orange, and 
the fresh fountain, to me are now savorless as adamant 
or air; my children are as stones; O, Jupiter, I am utterly 
wretched, I am a man without sensation!' 

c Unhappy mortal,' replied the god, how can I afford 
thee satisfaction? When I gave thee nerves to feel, and 
muscles to execute the purposes of thy mind, and be- 
stowed on thee water to refresh thy palate, and made thy 



ON THE HAPPINESS OF INDIVIDUALS. 319 

whole frame one great inlet of enjoyment, thou wert not 
content. I made thy nerves liable to pain, to warn thee 
when thou departedst from my laws. The rain that was 
sent fell to fructify and refresh the earth, and not to 
injure thee. I saw thee, while the showers descended, 
stay abroad, regardless of its influence on thy corporeal 
frame. The northern blast received from me its piercing 
cold, to warn thee of its effects; and yet I saw thee, wet 
and shivering, stand in its course, regardless of its power. 
In the voice of the storm I spake to thy understanding, 
but thou didst not comprehend. The fever that parched 
thy blood was sent to arrest thee in thy departures from 
my organic laws. If I restore to thee my institutions, 
thou mayst again forget my ways, and in misery impeach 
my justice.' 

'O most gracious Jupiter, 3 cried the husbandman, 
'now I see thy power and wisdom, and my own folly 
and presumption. I accept thy laws, and gratefully ac- 
knowledge, that, even in the chastisements they inflict, 
they are beneficent. Restore to me the enjoyments of 
sensation; permit me once more to reap the advantages 
that flow from the just uses of my nerves and muscles, 
and I bow with resignation to the punishment of misap- 
plying them.' Jupiter granted his request. His fever 
and pains returned; but by medicine were relieved. He 
slowly recovered health and strength, and never after 
embraced his children, or enjoyed a meal, but he poured 
forth a deeper offering of gratitude than he had ever done 
oefore. He was now instructed concerning the source 
t)f his enjoyments; he studied the laws of his nature and 
obeyed them; and when he suffered for occasional de- 
viations he hastened back to the right path, and never 
again underwent so severe a punishment as the first. 

Just as the husbandman resumed his wonted labors, a 
new voice was heard calling loudly to Jupiter for relief. 
It proceeded from a young heir writhing in agony, who 
cried, ' O Jupiter, my father committed debaucheries 



320 INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS 

for which my bones are pierced with liquid fire, gout 
teareth my flesh asunder; thou art not just to punish 
me for his transgressions; deliver me, O Jupiter, or 
renounce thy character for benevolence and justice/ 
'Thou complainest of my law of hereditary descent,' 
said Jupiter; 'Hast thou derived from thy father any 
other quality besides gout? ' ' O Jupiter,' said the suf- 
ferer, 'I have derived nerves that feel sweet pleasure, 
when the gout ceaseth its gnawing; muscles that execute, 
the purposes of my will; senses that are inlets" of joy; 
and faculties that survey and rejoice in thy fair creation. 
But why didst thou permit gout to descend from him who 
sinned, to me ? ' 

'Short-sighted mortal,' said Jupiter; 'thy father was 
afflicted because he infringed my institutions; by my 
organic law, thou hast received a frame constituted as 
was that of thy father, when thy life commenced; the 
delicate sensibility of his nerves transmitted the same 
susceptibility to thine; the vigor of his muscles has been 
transferred into thine; and by the same law, the liability 
to pain that existed in his bones from debauchery, con- 
stituted an inseparable element of thine: If this law 
afflict thee speak the word, and I shall suspend it as tc 
thee.' 

'Bountiful Jupiter!' said the sufferer; 'but tell me 
first, if thou suspendest thy law, shall I lose all that I 
inherited by it from my father; nerves, muscles, senses, 
faculties, and all that constitute my delight, when the 
gout afflicteth me not?' — 'Assuredly thou shalt,' said 
Jupiter, ' but thou shalt have no organic pain.' 

' Forbear, most bounteous deity,' replied the sufferer, 
' I gratefully accept the gift of thy organic laws, with 
all their chastisements annexed: But say, O Jupiter, if 
this pain was inflicted on my father for trangressing thy 
law, may it not be lessened or removed, if I obey? ' 

'The very object of my law,' said Jupiter, 'is that 
it should. Hadst thou proceeded as thy father did, thy 



ON THE HAPPINESS OF INDIVIDUALS, 321 

whole frame would have become one great centre of 
disease. The pain was transmitted to thee to guard thee 
by a powerful monitor from pursuing his sinful ways, 
that thou mightest escape this greater misery. Adopt a 
course in accordance with my institutions, thy pain shall 
abate, and thy children shall be free from its effects.' 

The heir expressed profound resignation to the will of 
Jupiter, blessed him for his organic law, and entered 
upon a life of new and strict obedience. His pain 
through time diminished, and his enjoyments increased. 
Ever after he was grateful for the law. 

A feeble voice next reached the vault of Heaven: It 
was that of an infant, sick and in pain. ' What is thy 
distress, poor child, 5 said Jupiter, 'and of what dost 
thou complain ! ' Half drowned in sobs, the feeble voice 
replied, ' I suffer under thy organic law. A father's 
sickness, and a mother's disordered frame, have been 
transmitted and combined in me. I am all over exhaus- 
tion and pain.' — ' Hast thou received no other gift,' 
said Jupiter, ' but sickness and disease, no pleasure to 
thy neives, thy muscles, or thy mental powers?' 'All 
are so feeble,' replied the child, ■ that I exist not to 
enjoy but to suffer.' 'Poor infant,' said Jupiter, 'my 
organic law will soon deliver thee, and I shall take thee 
to myself.' The organic law instantly operated, the 
body of the child lay a lifeless mass, but suffered no 
more; its spirit dwelt with Jupiter. 

The next prayer was addressed by a merchant strug- 
gling on the Mediterranean waves, and nigh sinking in 
their foam. 'What evil dost thou charge against me,' 
said Jupiter, ' and what dost thou require ?•' 

'O. Jupiter,' said the supplicant, 'I sailed from Tyre 
to Rome, in a ship, which thou seest on fire, loaded 
with all the merchandise acquired by my previous toils. 
As I lay here at anchor off the port of Syracuse, whither 
business called me, a sailor, made by thee, thirsted after 
wine, stole it from my store, and, in intoxication, set my 



322 INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS 

ship and goods on fire; and I am now plunged in the 
blue waves to die by water, to escape the severer pain 
of being consumed by fire. Why, if thou art just, should 
the innocent thus suffer for the guilty ? ' 

1 Thou complainest, then/ said Jupiter, c of my social 
law? Since this law displeaseth thee, I restore thee to 
thy ship, and suspend it as to thee.' 

The merchant, in a moment, saw his ship entire; the 
blazing embers restored to vigorous planks; himself and 
all his crew sound in limb, and gay in mind, upon her 
deck. Joyous and grateful, he addressed thanksgiving 
to the god, and called to his crew to weigh the anchor, 
set the sails, and turn the helm for Rome. But no sailor 
heard him speak, and no movement followed his words. 
Astonished at their indolence and sloth, he cried, in a 
yet louder voice, and inquired why none obeyed his call. 
But no answer was given. He saw the crew move and 
speak, act and converse ; but they seemed not to observe 
him. He entreated, remonstrated, and upbraided; but 
no reply was given. All seemed unconscious of his pre- 
sence. Unconscious of his presence f The awful thought 
rushed into his mind, that the social law was suspended as 
to him. He now saw, in all its horror, the import of the 
words of Jupiter, which before he had not fully compre- 
hended. Terrified, he seized a rope, and set a sail. 
Every physical law was entire, and obeyed his will. The 
sail filled, and strained forward from the mast. He ran 
to the helm, it obeyed his muscles, and the ship moved as 
he directed it. But its course was short, the anchor was 
down, and stopped its progress in the sea. He lowered 
the sail, seized a handspike, and attempted to weigh; but 
in vain. The strength of ten men was required to raise 
so ponderous an anchor. Again he called to his crew: 
but the social law was suspended as *to him; he was 
absolved thenceforth from all suffering, caused by the 
misconduct of others, but he was cut off from every 
enjoyment and advantage from their assistance 



ON THE HAPPINESS OP INDIVIDUALS. 325 

In despair he seized the boat, rowed it into the port of 
Syracuse, and proceeded straight to his commercial cor- 
respondent there, to beg his aid in delivering him from 
the indolence of his crew. He saw his friend, addressed 
him, and told him all his labors to leave the anchorage; 
but his friend seemed quite unconscious of his \ resence. 
He did not even look upon him, but proceeded in busi- 
ness of his own, with which he seemed entirely occupied. 
The merchant, wearied with fatigue, and almost frantic 
with alarm, hurried to a tavern on the quay, where he 
used to dine, and entering, called for wine, to recruit his 
exhausted strength. But the servants seemed uncon- 
scious of his presence; no movement was made; and he 
remained, as it were, in a vast solitude, amidst large 
companies of merchants, servants and assistants, who all 
bustled in active gaiety, each fulfilling his duty in his own 
department. The merchant now comprehended all the 
horrors of his situation, and called aloud to Jupiter. ' O 
Jupiter, death in the- blue waves, or even by consuming 
flame, were better than the life thou hast assigned me. 
Let me die, for my cup of misery is full beyond endur- 
ance. Restore me the enjoyments ;f thy social law, and 
I hail its pains as blessings.' 

' But,' said Jupiter, ' if I restore to thee my social law, 
thy ship will be consumed, thou and thy crew will escape 
in thy boat, but thou shalt be a very beggar; and, in thy 
poverty, thou wilt upbraid me for dealing thus unjustly 
by thee.' 

'O bountiful Jupiter,' replied the merchant, ' I never 
knew till now what enjoyments I owed to thy social law; 
how rich it renders me, even when all else is gone; and 
how poor I would be, with all the world for a possession, 
if denied its blessings. True, I shall be poor; but my 
nerves, muscles, senses, propensities, sentiments and 
intellect will be left me: now I see that employment of 
these is the only pleasure of existence; poverty will not 
cut me off from exercising these powers in obedience to 



324 INFLUENCE OF THE NATURAL LAWS 

thy laws, but will rather add new excitements to my 
doing so. Under thy social law, will not the sweet voice 
of friendship cheer me in poverty, the ecstatic burst of 
adoration of thee lift my soul to heaven; will not the aid 
of kindred and of my fellow men soothe the remainder of 
my days? and, besides, now that I see thy designs, I shall 
avoid employing my fellow men in situations unsuitable 
to their talents, and thereby escape the penalties of in- 
fringing thy social law. Most merciful Jupiter, restore 
to me the benefit of all thy laws, and I accept the penal- 
ties attached to their infringement.' His request was 
granted; ever after he made Jupiter's laws and the nature 
of man his study; he obeyed them, became moderately 
rich, and found himself happier than he had ever been in 
his days of selfishness and ignorance. 

Jupiter was assailed by many other prayers from un- 
fortunate sufferers under infringement of his laws; but, 
instead of hearing each in endless succession, he assem- 
bled his petitioners, and introduced to them the slater, 
the husbandman, the young heir, and the merchant, and 
requested them to narrate their knowledge and experience 
of the natural laws; and he intimated, that if, after listen- 
ing to their account, any petitioner was not satisfied with 
his condition, he would suspend for him the particular 
law which caused him discontent. But no application 
followed. Jupiter saw his creatures employ themselves 
with real earnestness to study and observe his institutions, 
and ever after they offered up to him only gratitude and 
adoration for his infinite goodness and wisdom 



325 



CHAPTER IX. 

ON THE RELATION BETWEEN SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE, 

Since the first edition of this work was published, ob- 
jections have been stated that the views maintained in it 
are at variance with Revelation, and hostile to the inter- 
ests of Religion. It is gratifying, however, to know, that 
they have not been urged by any individual of the least 
eminence in theology, or countenanced by persons of 
enlarged views of Christian doctrine. On the contrary, 
many excellent individuals, of unquestionable piety and 
benevolence, have widely recommended this work as con- 
taining the philosophy of practical Christianity, and have 
aided in its distribution. It is therefore rather on account 
of the interest of the inquiry itself, than from any feeling 
of the necessity of a defence, that I enter into the follow 
ing discussion of the relation between Scripture and 
Science ; and as in a question of this nature authorities 
are entitled to great weight, I shall commence by citing 
the opinion of one of the most learned, talented, and 
accomplished divines of the present day, the Archbishop 
of Dublin. 

A few years ago, a Professorship of Political Economy 
was founded in Oxford by Mr. Drummond, with a novel 
constitution. The professor holds his office for only five 
years, and it is a condition that one lecture, at least, shall 
be published every year. Dr. Whately, now Archbishop 
of Dublin, was the second individual elected to the chair, 
and, in compliance with the statute, he, in 1831, publish- 
ed eight lectures on the science. They are introductory 
in their character, being intended chiefly to dispel popular 
prejudices against political economy > and to unfold its 

23 w 



526 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

objects. They contain several admirable observations, 
calculated to remove prejudices against the pursuit of 
new truths, which are directly applicable to the subject 
of this work, and on this account I present them to the 
readers. 

c It has been my first object,' says Dr. Whately, in his 
preface, ' to combat the prevailing prejudices against the 
study, and especially those which represent it as unfavor- 
able to religion.' 

'In proportion,' he continues, e as any branch o" 
study leads to important and useful results, in proportion 
as it gains ground in public estimation, — in proportion as 
it tends to overthrow prevailing errors — in the same 
degree it may be expected to call forth angry declamation 
from those who are trying to despise what they will not 
learn, and wedded to prejudices which they cannot de- 
fend. Galileo probably would have escaped persecution, 
if his discoveries could have been disproved, and his 
reasonings refuted.' l That political economy should 
have been complained of as hostile to religion, will 
probably be regarded a century hence (should the fact be 
then on record) with the same wonder, almost approach- 
ing to incredulity, with which we, of the present day, 
hear of men sincerely opposing, on religious grounds, the 
Copernican system. But till the advocates of Christian- 
ity will have become universally much better acquainted 
with the true character of their religion, than, universally, 
they have ever yet been, we must always expect that 
every branch of study, every scientific theor^ that is 
brought into notice, will be assailed on religious grounds, 
by those who either have not studied the subject, or who 
are incompetent judges of it; or again, who are address- 
ing themselves to such persons as are so circumstanced, 
and wish to excite and to take advantage of the passions 
of the ignorant. Fleeter e si nequeo superos, Acheronia 
movebo. Some there are who sincerely believe that the 
Scriptures contain revelations of truths the most distinct 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 327 

from religion. Such persons procured, accordingly, a 
formal condemnation (very lately rescinded) of the theory 
of the earth's motion, as at variance with Scripture. In 
Protestant countries, and now, it seems, even in Popish, 
this point has been conceded; but that the erroneous 
principle — that of appealing to revelation on questions of 
physical science — has not yet been entirely cleared away, 
is evident from the objections which most of you proba- 
bly may have heard to the researches of geology. The 
objections against astronomy have been abandoned, ra- 
ther, perhaps, from its having been made to appear, that 
the Scripture accounts of the phenomena of the heavens 
may be reconciled with the conclusions of science, than 
from its being understood that Scripture is not the test by 
which the conclusions of science are to be tried. 5 ' It is 
not a sign of faith — on the contrary, it indicates rather a 
want of faith, or else a culpable indolence — to decline 
meeting any theorist on his own ground, and to cut short 
the controversy by an appeal to the authority of Scrip- 
ture. For, if we really are convincea of the truth of 
Scripture, and consequently of the falsity of any theory, 
(of the earth, for instance) which is really at variance 
with it, we must needs believe that that theory is also at 
variance with observable phenomena; and we ought not 
therefore to shrink from trying the question by an appeal 
to these.' ' God has not revealed to us a system of mo 
rality, such as would have been needed for a being who 
had no other means of distinguishing right and wrong. 
On the^contrary, the inculcation of virtue and reprobation 
of vice in Scripture, are in such a tone as seem to pre- 
suppose a natural power, or a capacity for acquiring the 
power to distinguish them. And if a man, denying or 
renouncing all claims of natural conscience, should prac- 
tise without scruple every thing he did not find expressly 
r orbidden in Scripture, and think himself not bound to do 
any thing that is not there expressly enjoined, exclaiming 
at every turn — 



328 ON THE RELATIOJN BETWEEN 

' Is it so nominated in the Bond ? ' 
he would be leading a life very unlike what a Christian's 
should be. Since, then, we are bound to use our own 
natural faculties in the search after all truth that is with- 
in the reach of those faculties, most especially ought we 
to try, by their own proper evidence, questions which 
form no part of revelation properly so called, but which 
are incidentally alluded to in the Sacred Writings. If 
we appeal to the Scriptures on any such points, it should 
be merely as to an ancient book, not in reference to their 
sacred character; in short, not as Scripture.' — Pp. 29 
to 36. 

These observations are highly philosophical and worthy 
of attention; the more so that their author is a divine, 
and now a high dignitary in the church of Ireland. 

The science of Geology also, has been fiercely attack- 
ed as hostile to religion, and been ably defended by the 
Rev. Adam Sedgwick, one of its most eminent professors 
In the Appendix to his Discourse on the Studies of tho 
University of Cambridge, he has added some valuable 
and instructive notes, in the last of which he reproves, 
with great eloquence and severity, the bigoted and igno- 
rant individuals who ' dare to affirm that the pursuits of 
natural science are hostile to religion.' He also chastises 
those writers who have endeavored to falsify the facts 
and conclusions of Geology, for the purpose of flattering 
the religious prejudices of the public. ' There is another 
class of men,' says he, ■ who pursue geology by a nearer 
road, and are guided by a different light. Well inten- 
tioned they may be; but they have betrayed no small self- 
sufficiency, along with a shameful want of knowledge of 
the fundamental facts they presume to write about; hence 
they have dishonored the literature of this country by 
Mosaic geology, Scripture geology, and other works of 
cosmogony with kindred titles, wherein they have over- 
looked the aim and end of revelation, tortured the book 
of life out of its proper meaning, and wantonly contrived 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 329 

to bring about a collision between natural phenomena 
and the word of God.' (P. 150.) 

The following observations of the same author ar.e 
exceedingly just, and completely applicable to the prin- 
ciples expounded in the present work, as well as to 
geology. ' A Brahmin crushed with a stone the micro- 
scope that first showed him living things among the 
vegetables of his daily food. The spirit of the Brahmin 
lives in Christendom. The bad principles of our nature 
are not bounded by caste or climate; and men are still to 
be found, who, if not restrained by the wise and humane 
laws of their country, would try to stifle by personal 
violence, and crush by brute force, every truth not hatch- 
ed among their own conceits, and confined within the 
narrow fences of their own ignorance.' — (P. 151.) 

1 We are told by the wise man not to ansiver a fool ac- 
cording to his folly; and it would indeed be a vain and 
idle task to engage in controversy with this school of 
false philosophy — to waste our breath in the forms of 
exact reasoning, unfitted to the comprehension of our 
antagonists — to draw our weapons in a combat where 
victory could give no honor. Before a geologist can 
condescend to reason with such men, they must first 
learn geology. # It is too much to call upon us to scatter 
our seed on a soil at once both barren and unreclaimed 
— it is folly to think, that we can in the same hour be 
stubbing up the thorns and reaping the harvest. All the 
writers of this school have not indeed sinned against plain 
sense to the same degree. With some of them there is 
perhaps a perception of the light of natural truth, whicli 
may lead them after a time to follow it in the right road; 
but the case of others is beyond all hope from the powers 
of rational argument. Their position is impregnable 

* This remark is peculiarly applicable to those who oppose Phre- 
nology, and the doctrine of the Natural Laws. Such of them as are 
lerious do so in profound ignorance of the whole subject 

28* 



330 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

while they remain within the fences of their ignore *e, 
which is to them as a wall of brass; for (as was well s**id, 
if I remember right, by Bishop Warburton, of some 
bustling fanatics of his own day) there is no weak side 
of common sense whereat we may attack them. If cases 
like these yield at all, it must be to some treatment 
which suits the inveteracy of their nature, and not to the 
weapons of reason. As psychological phenomena, they 
are, however, well deserving of our study; teaching us 
among other things, how prone man is to turn his best 
faculties to evil purposes — and how, at the suggestions 
of vanity and other bad principles of his heart, he can be- 
come so far deluded, as to fancy that he is doing honor 
to religion, while he is sacrificing the common charities 
of life, and arraigning the very workmanship of God.' 
(Pp. 151, 152.) 

After the examples which these passages afford, of 
misdirected zeal for religion leading to opposition to the 
most useful and interesting investigations, we need not 
be surprised that the doctrine of the natural laws also 
has met with a similar reception. The charge is made 
that it leads to infidelity, and that its principles are 
irreconcilable with Scripture, 

It may be useful to observe, that in all ages new doc- 
trines have been charged with impiety, and that Chris- 
tianity itself has offered no exception to this rule. The 
Greeks and Romans charged Christianity with ' impiety 
and novelty.' In Cave's Primitive Christianity, we are 
informed that c the Christians were every where account- 
ed a pack of Atheists, and their religion the Jltheism.' 
They were denominated c mountebank impostors,' and 
'men of a desperate and unlawful faction.' They were 
represented ' as. destructive and pernicious to human 
society,' and were accused of c sacrilege, sedition, and 
high treason.' The same system of misrepresentation 
and abuse was practised by the Roman Catholics against 
the Protestants, at the Reformation,-—' Some called their 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 331 

dogs Calvin; and others transformed Calvin into Cain,' 
In France, ' the old and stale calumnies formerly invent- 
ed against the first Christians, were again revived by 
Demochares, a doctor of the Sorbonne, pretending that 
all the disasters of the state were to be attributed to 
Protestants alone.' 

If the views of human nature expounded in this work 
be untrue, the proper answer to them is a demonstration 
of their falsity. If they be true, they are mere enun- 
ciations of the institutions of the Creator, and it argues 
superstitious and not religious feelings, to fear evil con- 
sequences from the knowledge of what Divine Wisdom 
has appointed. The argument that the results of the 
doctrine are obviously at variance with Scripture, and 
that therefore the doctrines cannot be true, is not admissi- 
ble, c for,' in the words of Dr. Whately, ' if we really are 
convinced of the truth of Scripture, and consequently 
of the falsity of any theory (of the earth for instance), 
which is really at variance with it, we must needs believe 
that that theory is also at variance with observable 
phenomena; and we ought not therefore to shrink from 
trying the question by an appeal to these.' 

Galileo was told from high authority in the church, 
that his doctrine of the revolution of the globe was obvi- 
ously at variance with Scripture, and that therefore it 
could not be true ; but, as his opinions were founded on 
physical facts, which could neither be concealed nor 
denied, they necessarily prevailed. If there had been ja 
real opposition between Scripture and nature, the only 
result would have been a demonstration, that Scripture 
in this particular instance was erroneously interpreted, 
because the evidence of physical nature is imperishable 
and insuperable, and cannot give way to any authority 
whatever. The same consequence will evidently happen 
in regard to Phrenology. If it were possible that any 
facts in physiology did actually and directly contradict 
any interpretation of Scripture, it is not difficult to per- 



332 ON THB RELATION BETWEEN 

ceive which must yield. The human understanding can- 
not resist evidence founded on nature, and even if it did 
resist, Nature would not bend, but continue to operate 
in her own way in spite of the resistance, and a new 
and more correct interpretation of Scripture would ulti- 
mately become inevitable. Opposition between science 
and revelation I sincerely believe to be impossible, when 
the facts in nature are correctly observed, and divine 
truth is correctly interpreted; but I put the case thus 
strongly to call the serious attention of religious persons 
to the mischievous consequences to religion, of rashly 
denouncing any doctrine professing to be founded on 
natural facts, as adverse" to revelation. Every instance 
in which the charge is made falsely, is a gross outrage 
against revelation itself, and tends to lead men to regard 
Scripture as an obstacle to the progress of science and 
civilization, instead of being a system of divine wisdom, 
in harmony with all natural truth. 

In confirmation of these views the opinions of some of 
the most eminent divines may be added. 

'Natural religion,' says Bishop Butler, ' is the foundation 
and principal part of Christianity. # * * * ' Christianity 
teaches natural religion, in its genuine simplicity.' # * * 

c Reason can and ought to judge, not only of the 
meaning, but also of the morality and evidence of Reve- 
lation.' * * * 

1 Let reason be kept to, and if any part of the scriptural 
account of the redemption of the world by Christ, can 
be shown to be really contrary to it, let the Scripture, in 
the name of God, be given up. ' 

c Those rules of action,' says Dr. Doddridge, * which a 
man may discover, by the use of reason, to be agreeable 
to the nature of things, and on which his happiness will 
appear "to him to depend, may be called the law of nature; 
and when these are considered as intimations of the 
divine will and purpose, they may be called the natu- 
ral laws of God.\ * * * * 'For any one to pour 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 333 

contempt upon these natural laws of God, under pretence 
of extolling any supposed divine revelation, or intimation 
of God's will, in an extraordinary manner, will appear 
very absurd. 5 * # # * ' No discovery can be supposed so 
particular, as not to need the use of reason upon the prin- 
ziples of the law of nature, in explaining and applying it 
too particular cases.' 

1 The first excellency peculiar to the christian doctrine 
is,' says Dr. Barrow, ' that it gives us a true, proper, and 
complete character or notion of God, such as perfectly 
agrees with what the best reason dictates, the works of 
nature declare, ancient tradition doth attest, and com- 
mon experience testify.' **•'■*** ' Every religion that 
should, in this case, clash with the law of nature, would 
bear upon it the marks of reprobation, and it could not 
come from the author of nature, who is always consis- 
tent, always faithful.' 

All existing interpretations of Scripture have been 
adopted in ignorance of the fact, that, ceteris paribus, a 
brain in which the animal organs preponderate greatly 
over the moral and intellectual organs, has a native and 
instinctive tendency to immoral conduct, and vice versa , 
and that the influence of the organization is fundamental — 
that is to say, that no means are yet known in nature, by 
which a brain of the inferior combination may be made to 
manifest the moral and intellectual faculties with the same 
success as a brain of the superior combination. Only 
phrenologists, who have observed, for many years, in 
various situations, and under different influences, the 
practical conduct of individuals constituted in these differ- 
ent ways, can conceive the importance of the combina- 
tions of the organs; but after it is discovered, the infer- 
ences from it are irresistible. The religious teachers of 
mankind are yet ignorant of the most momentous fact in 
regard to the moral and intellectual improvement of the 
race which natuie contains. I have heard it said that 
Christianity affords a better and a more instantaneous 



334 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

remedy for human depravity, than improvement in the 
cerebral organization; because the moment a man ig 
penetrated by the love of God in Christ, his moral and 
religious affections and intellect become far stronger and 
more elevated, whatever his brain may be, than those of 
any individual whatever without that love, however high 
his cerebral development, and however much he may be 
instructed in .natural knowledge. I observe, however, 
that in thjs life a man cannot become penetrated by the 
love of God, except through the aid of sound and suffi- 
cient material organs. This fact is directly proved by 
cases of madness and idiocy. Disease in the organs. is 
the cause of insanity, and mere deficiency in size in them, 
is one, and an invariable cause of idiocy. In neither of 
these states can the mind receive the advantages of the 
Christian doctrine. These facts show that the power of 
receiving and appreciating Christianity itself is modified 
by the condition of the brain, and I venture to affirm, that 
the influence of the organs does not terminate with these 
extreme cases, but operates in all circumstances, and in 
every individual, aiding or impeding the reception and 
efficacy even of revelation. If this were not the case, 
there would be a power in operation capable of influenc- 
ing the human mind, during life, without the intervention 
of material organs; and, accordingly, many excellent 
persons believe this to be Scriptural truth, and matter of 
experience also: But those who entertain this opinion are 
not instructed in the functions of the brain; are not aware 
of the universally admitted facts, which establish, that 
while life continues, the mind cannot act or be acted upon 
except through the medium of organs; nor do they bring 
forward one example of idiots and madmen being render- 
ed pious, practical, and enlightened Christians by this 
power, notwithstanding the state of their brains. Cases 
indeed occur in which religious feelings co-exist with 
partial idiocy or partial insanity ; but in them the organs 
by means of which these sentiments are manifested, will be 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 335 

discovered to be well developed, — and if the feelings be 
sound, the organs will be found to be unaffected by disease. 

Serious persons who are offended by this doctrine con- 
stantly forget that the reciprocal influence of the minci 
and the brain is not of man's devising, but that God him- 
self established it, and conferred on the organs those 
qualities which He saw to be necessary for executing the 
purposes to which he had appointed them. If the state- 
ments now made be unfounded, I shall be the first to give 
them up; but believing them to be true, I cannot avoid 
adhering to them. When, therefore, I add, that I have 
never seen an individual with large animal, and small 
moral and intellectual organs, whose conduct was steadily 
moral, under the ordinary temptations of life, however 
high his religious professions might be, I merely state a 
fact which the Creator himself has decreed to exist. In- 
deed, I have seen several striking instances of persons, 
who, after making a great profession of religion, ultimate- 
ly disgraced it; and I have observed, without one excep- 
tion, that, in all these instances, the organs of the inferior 
propensities were large, and those of one or more of the 
moral sentiments deficient; and I am convinced that the 
same conclusion, after sufficiently accurate and extensive 
observation, will force itself upon all candid and reflect 
ing minds. 

My inference, therefore, is, that the Divine Spirit, re 
vealed in Scripture as a power influencing the human 
mind, invariably acts in harmony with the laws of organi- 
zation; because the latter, as emanating from the same 
source, can never be in contradiction with the former; and 
that a well constituted brain is a condition essential to the 
due manifestation of Christian dispositions. If this be 
really the fact, and if the constitution of the brain be in 
any degree regulated by the laws of physiology, it is im- 
possible to doubt that a knowledge of the natural laws is 
destined to exercise a vast influence in rendering men 
capable of appreciating and practising Christianity. The 



336 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

manner in which it will do so, is explained in Dr. Combe's 
work on ' Physiology applied to Health and Education, 
already alluded to. It contains an exposition of the laws 
of action of the brain and its connection with and influ- 
ence on the rest of the system, and therefore its applica j 
tion generally to human improvement. 

An admirable portion of Christianity is that in which 
the supremacy of the moral sentiments is explained and 
enforced as a practical doctrine. c Love thy neighbor as 
thyself;' all mankind are thy neighbors; blessed are the 
meek and the merciful; love those that hate you and 
despitefully use you ; seek that which is pure and holy, 
and of good report; — these are^precepts of Scripture. 
Now, I have endeavored to show, that the human facul- 
ties, and external nature, are so constituted as to admit 
of this becoming a practical doctrine on earth, an idea 
which it has rarely entered into the heart of man to con- 
ceive as a possibility without miraculous interference. 
If the philosophy now explained shall carry home to the 
conviction of rational men, that the order of nature, by 
the development of its inherent resources, fairly admits of 
the practical exemplification of these precepts, a new 
direction must necessarily be given to the pursuits of the 
religious instructers of mankind. Christianity, after its 
establishment by Constantine, was left to exert its own 
influence over the Roman Empire, unaided by printing 
and natural science. It is recorded in history, that it did 
not suffice to arrest the decline of morals and the down 
fall of the State, but was itself corrupted and perverted, 
[n the dark ages which followed the subversion of that 
Empire, it was again left, unaided by human learning, to 
do its best for the regeneration of mankind; and it became 
1 vast system of superstition. It was only after the in- 
vention of printing, and the revival of letters, that the 
barbarous superstructures which had been raised on the 
simple foundations of the Gospel, were cleared away. 
But the period from the revival of letters to the present 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE 337 

d**.y, has been the age of scholastic learning, as contra- 
distinguished from that of philosophy and science. Chris- 
tianity stands before us, therefore, at present, as inter- 
preted by men who knew extremely little of the science, 
either of external nature or of the human mind. They 
have conceived it to be a system of spiritual influences, 
of internal operations on the soul, and of repentant 
preparation for another world, rather than an exposition 
of pure and lofty principles inherent in human nature 
itself, and capable of being largely developed and ren- 
dered practical in this world. 

It is a common accusation against philosophy, that the 
study of it. renders men infidels: and this alleged fact is 
brought forward as a proof that human nature is corrupt, 
blind, and perverse, turning what ought to be its proper 
food into mortal poison. But if this were really a well 
founded charge, the conclusion which I would draw from 
it would be, that there must be essential errors in the 
popular interpretations of revelation, when the effect of a 
knowledge of nature on the mind is to lead to disbelief 
of its truth. Science is of modern growth, and, down to 
the present hour, the mass of Christians in every country 
have embraced their faith without the possibility of 
comparing it with the revelation of the Divine Will con- 
tained in the constitution of external nature, which, 
philosophically speaking, was unknown to them. The 
facts unfolded by science were unknown to the divines 
who first denied the capability of mankind to attain, by 
the development of their natural powers, to a higher 
moral condition than any they have hitherto exhibited; 
and, hence, their decision against the capabilities of 
human nature has been pronounced causa non cognita, 
and must be open for reconsideration. If Christianity 
was freed from many errors by the revival and spread of 
mere scholastic learning in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and 
seventeenth centuries, much more may we expect that 
the interpretations of it will be farther purified, corrected, 

29 



S38 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

and elucidated, by the flood of light which the sciences 
of human and physical nature, now in the course of 
cultivation, will one day shed upon it. 

According to my view, the study of the human con- 
stitution, and of external nature, and of their relations, 
will become an object of paramount importance, with 
reference to a just appreciation of the true meaning of 
Scripture. Civilized man sees infinitely more of true 
and practical wisdom in Scripture than the savage of the 
wilderness, even supposing that the latter could read and 
understand the words of the sacred volume; and, in like 
manner, man, when thoroughly instructed in his own 
constitution, and in that of external nature, will discover 
still profounder truth and more admirable precepts in that 
record, than are found in it by ignorant, contentious, 
blind, and conceited man, such as he has hitherto ex- 
isted. % 

History is full of instruction concerning the insuffi- 
ciency of mere religious instructions to protect men from 
practical errors, when their understandings are unen- 
lightened in regard to philosophy and the constitution 
of nature; and the part which the religious teachers of 
Europe acted in regard to witchcraft, affords one striking 
proof of the truth of this remark. 

It was not till towards the close of the 15th century, 
says the Foreign Quarterly Review, No. XI, that per- 
secutions for witchcraft began to prevail in Europe. By 
a bull of Pope Innocent VIII. in 1484, death was, for 
the first time", denounced without mercy to all who should 
be convicted of witchcraft, or of dealings with Satan; and 
a form of process for the trial was regularly laid down 
by a wretch of the name of Sprenger, whom the Pope 
placed at the hea*} of a commission of fire and sword 
The succeeding pope^ Alexander VI. and even Leo X, 
lent their aid in accelerating the course of this havoc- 
spreading engine. So far, however, were these commis- 
sions from being attended with beneficial consequences, 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 339 

that their only effect was to render the evil every day 
more and more formidable; till, at last, if we are to 
believe the testimony of contemporary historians, Europe 
was little better than a large suburb of Pandemonium 
One half of the population was either bewitching or 
bewitched. ' About the year 1515, 500 witches were 
executed in Geneva in three months. 1000 were exe- 
cuted in one year in the diocese of Como; and they went 
on burning at the rate of 100 per annum for some time 
after. In Lorraine, from 1580 to 1595, Remigius boasts 
of having burned 900. In France, the multitude of 
executions about 1520 is incredible. One historian calls 
it c an almost infinite number of sorcerers.' 

Germany was so fertile a soil for the supernatural, 
that, from the publication of Innocent's bull, to the sup- 
pression of persecution for witchcraft, the number of 
victims could not be less than 100,000! In the town of 
Wurtzburg alone, in the course of two years — 1621-29 
—there were twenty-nine acts of conflagration, and 157 
persons burnt, including not only old women, but even 
children as young as nine years. Other places furnished 
their full contingent; and so familiarized was the public 
with these atrocious scenes, that it relished and gloried 
in them; singing the events of them to popular airs; 
representing them in hideous engravings, with devils 
dragging away 'their own;' while the clergy preached 
solemn discourses, called ' witch-sermons,' upon occasion 
of every sacrifice — the effect of which was, of course, to 
inspire with fresh zeal to collect fuel for another. 

England was not free from the same madness. Three 
thousand victims were executed during the reign of the 
Long Parliament alone; and it is a melancholy spec- 
tacle to find a man like Sir Matthew Hale condemning 
wretches to destruction, on evidence which a child would 
now be disposed to laugh at. A better order of things 
commenced with the chief-justiceship of Holt, in conse- 
quence of whose firm charge to the jury on one of these 



340 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

trials, a verdict of not guilty — almost the first then on 
record in a trial for witchcraft — was found. In about ten 
other trials by Holt, from 1694 to 1701, the result was 
the same. Yet, in 1716, a Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, 
aged nine, were hanged at Huntingdon for selling their 
souls to the devil, and raising a storm by pulling off their 
stockings and making a lather of soapl With this crown- 
ing atrocity, the catalogue of murders in England closes, 
the penal statutes against witchcraft being repealed in 
1736, and the pretended exercise of such arts being pun- 
ished in future by imprisonment and pillory. 

Barrington, in his observations on the statute of 20th 
Henry VI, does not hesitate to estimate the number of 
those put to death in England, on the charge of riding 
through the air on a broomstick, at 30,000! 

Scotland, too^ must bear her share of the bloody stain 
of these abominable doings. Till the Reformation, little 
or no regard was paid to this subject; but soon after that 
event, a raving thirst for destruction took possession of 
the nation. In 1563, an act of, Parliament was passed, 
enacting the punishment of death against witches, or 
consulters of witches. The consequences of this author- 
itative recognition of the creed of witchcraft became 
immediately obvious in the reign of James VI. which 
followed. Witchcraft became the all-engrossing topic of 
the day; and it was the ordinary accusation resorted to, 
whenever it was the object of one individual to ruin 
another. A number of the trials are reported in Mr. 
Pitcairn's recent and valuable publication of the records 
of the Court of Justiciary. The first case is in 1572, of 
which no particulars are given, except the name of the 
unfortunate women, and the doom — ' convict and brynt.* 
Thirty-five trials are recorded subsequently to the end of 
James's reign, in all of which the horrid result is the 
same. The trials proceed, in the course of years, and 
confessions are obtained by torture with thumb-screws 
and boots, and pricking with sharp instruments; while 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 841 

slranglings and burnings follow of course. The scene 
darkens towards the reign of Charles I., with the increas- 
ing dominion of the Puritans. In 1640, the General 
Assembly passed an act, that all ministers should take 
particular note of witches and charmers, and that the 
commissioners should recommend to the supreme judi- 
cature the unsparing application of the laws against them. 
In 1643, after setting forth the increase of the crime, they 
recommended the granting of a standing commission from* 
the Privy Council or Justiciary, to ' any understanding 
gentlemen or magistrates,' to apprehend, try, and execute 
justice on the delinquents. By the urgency of the Gen- 
eral Assembly, who resumed the subject in 1644-45, and 
1649, an act of Parliament was passed in the last named 
year, confirming and extending the statute of Queen 
Mary, passed in 1563. As was to be expected, convic- 
tions, which had been fewer since James's time, increase, 
and the cases of course are more horrible. Thirty trials 
appear on the record between 1649 and 1660, in which 
(here seems to have been only one acquittal ; while at one 
western circuit, in 1659, seventeen persons were con- 
victed and burned for the imputed crime. Numerous, 
however, as are the cases in the records of Justiciary, 
these afford a most inadequate idea of the extent to which 
this pest prevailed over the country ; for the Privy Coun- 
cil was in the habit of granting commissions to resident 
gentlemen and ministers to examine, and afterwards to 
try and execute, witches all over Scotland; and so nu- 
merous were these commissions, that one author expresses 
his astonishment at the number found in the registers. 
Under these commissions, multitudes were burnt in every 
part of the kingdom. 

It is matter of history, that, in every case of the kind, 
the clergy displayed the most intemperate zeal. It was 
before them that the poor wretches were first brought for 
examination, in most cases after a preparatory course of 
solitary confinement, cold, famine, want of sleep, or ac- 

29* X 



342 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

tual torture. On some occasions, the clergy themselves 
actually performed the part of the prickers, and inserted 
Jong pins into the flesh of the witches; and in all, they 
labored with the most persevering^ investigations to ob- 
tain from the accused a confession which might after- 
wards be used against them on their trial, and which, in 
more than one instance, although retracted, formed the 
sole evidence on which the conviction proceeded. 

After 1662, the mania in Scotland began to decline in 
its violence; and to the great lawyers of the time is due 
the merit of first stemming the foul torrent. * From the 
horridness of the crime,' says Sir George Mackenzie in 
his Criminal Law, C I do conclude, that of all crimes it 
requires the clearest relevancy and most convincing pro- 
bature; and I condemn, next to the wretches themselves, 
those cruel and too forward judges, who burn persons by 
thousands as guilty of that crime.' The trials after this 
became fewer and fewer, and the last execution took 
place at Dornoch in 1722. The statutes were finally 
repealed in 1735. 

So little light did the Bible afford regarding the atro- 
city of the proceedings against witches, that the Seces- 
sion Church of Scotland, comprising many intelligent 
clergymen and a large number of the most serious and 
religious of the people, * complained, in their annual 
Confession of Personal and National Sins, against " the 
penal statute against witches having been repealed by 
Parliament, contrary to the express law of God." ' — (See 
Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclopedia, voce Witchcraft.) 
This defection is classed by Dr. John Brown of Had- 
dington, one of the great leaders of the Secession Church 
about the middle and end of last century, among ' the 
practical backslidings from the once attained to and 
covenanted work of reformation, which have happened 
In the preceding and present age, as abuses of the singu- 
ar favors of God.' 

During the whole of these proceedings, the clergy, 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 343 

both Catholic and Protestant were in possession of 
revelation as fully and freely as they are at the present 
day; and in Scotland, in particular, the Reformation had 
been completed, and the people put in possession of the 
Bible for nearly a century before the cessation of these 
prosecutions. Not only so, but the Bible itself was per- 
versely used as the warrant of the atrocities, and religion 
employed to fan the flame of cruelty and superstition. It 
any facts can prove that the Creator intended man to use 
his intellectual faculties, and to study the revelation of 
his will contained in the works of nature, in addition to 
the Bible, as a guide to his conduct, and that the Bible 
was never intended to supersede the necessity of all other 
knowledge, those now detailed must have this effect. 
The great difference between Christians of the present 
day who regard these executions as great crimes, and the 
pious ministers who inflicted, and the serious people who 
witnessed them, consists in the superior knowledge pos- 
sessed by the moderns, of physical science, which has 
opened up to their understandings views of nature and 
of God, widely different from those entertained by their 
ancestors under the guidance of the Bible alone. 

In these remarks I do not depreciate the importance 
of the Bible; I only very humbly endeavor to vindicate 
the study of the Creator's will in his works as well as 
in his word, and to show that the human mind needs 
illumination from both to direct its conduct towards vir- 
tue. In the words of Archbishop Whately, I conclude, 
that e we are bound to use our own natural faculties 
in the search after all that is within the reach of these 
faculties; and that most especially ought we to try, by 
their own proper evidence, questions which form no part 
of revelation properly so called, but which are inciden- 
tally alluded to in the Sacred Writings.' ' If it be true 
that man's duty coincides with his real interest, both in 
this world and in the next, the better he is qualified by 
intellectual culture and diffusion of knowledge, to under- 



344 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

stand his duty and his interests, the greater prospect 
there would seem to be (other points being equal) of his 
moral improvement.' 

The relation between Scripture and Phrenology ap- 
pears to me to be the following. 

The communications of the Bible may be divided into 
two great classes — the one relating to matters which the 
human intellect could never by its own powers have 
discovered, and the other consisting of descriptions of 
beings which exist in this world, and of rules of duty to 
be observed by those beings, — which appear to me to be 
subjected to the examination of every ordinary under- 
standing. To the former class belong the character and 
offices of Jesus Christ; while in the latter are compre- 
hended human nature itself, such as it now exists, and all 
moral and religious duties which bear relation to human 
happiness in this world. 

The Calvinist, Arminian, and Unitarian entertain views 
widely different regarding the character and offices of 
Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the Natural Laws and 
Phrenology can throw no light whatever on that subject, 
and therefore it would be a mere waste of words to mix 
up a discussion of the one with a treatise on the other: 
and this observation is equally applicable to every an- 
nouncement contained in the Bible regarding matters 
which are not permanent portions of ordinary nature. 

The Bible, however, contains numerous descriptions 
of human character, and numerous rules for the guidance 
of human conduct; all of which maybe compared with 
the constitution of the mind as it is revealed to us by 
observation, and with the inferences which may be drawn 
from that constitution concerning its most becoming and 
most advantageous modes of action. The result of this 
comparison appears to me to establish the harmony 
between Phrenology and Scripture. But let us come to 
details. 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE 345 

We are informed in Matthew's gospel, (xv. 19.) that 
( out of the heart (clearly meaning the mind) proceed evil 
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false 
witness, blasphemies;' and statements .essentially to the 
same effect are made in the Epistles of St. Paul to 
the Romans (i. 29, 31; iii. 10.) and to the Galatians 
(v. 19, 21.) Now, according to Phrenology, excessive 
and irregular action of various faculties produces evil 
thoughts; — an abuse of Destructiveness leads to murder; 
an abuse of Amativeness is the source of adulteries and 
fornications; an abuse of Acquisitiveness produces thefts; 
an abuse of Secretiveness is the origin of falsehood; and 
an abuse of Destructiveness and Self-Esteem gives rise 
<o blasphemies. 

Here, then, is a striking accordance; and the harmony 
will be more fully appreciated if we put the faculties 
enumerated by Mr. Dugald Stewart to the test of a similar 
contrast. Mr. Stewart's c active and moral powers ' are 
the following. 

I. Appetites. 

Hunger, 

Thirst, 
Appetite of sex. 

II. Desires. 

The desire of Knowledge, 
The desire of Society, 
The desire of Esteem, 
The desire of Power, 
The desire of Superiority. 

III. Affections. 

Parental and filial affection, 

Affections of Kindred, 

Love — Friendship, 

Patriotism, 

Universal Benevolence, 

Gratitude — Pity. 



346 OP THE RELATION BETWEEN 

Malevolent Affections. 
c The names which are given to these in common dis- 
course,' says Mr. Stewart, ' are various: — 

Hatred, 

Jealousy, 

Envy, 

Revenge, 

Misanthropy. 

But,' continues he, 'it maybe doubted if there be any 
principle of this kind implanted by nature in the mind, 
excepting the principle of resentment; the others being 
grafted on this stock by our erroneous opinions and 
criminal habits.' 

IV. Self-Love. 

V. The Moral Faculty. 

VI. Principles which co-operate with our moral powers ih 

THEIR INFLUENCE ON CONDUCT, VIZ. 

Decency, or Regard to Character, 

Sympathy, 

The Sense of the Ridiculous, and 

Taste. 

These faculties, then, joined with the intellect, compose 
the human mind according to Mr. Stewart; and it will be 
found much more difficult to account, , by means of his 
single malevolent affection of Resentment, or the abuse 
of the other powers enumerated by him, for such actions 
as those mentioned in the quotation from St. Matthew, or 
as we see daily around us. 

Again: Christ says in the Gospel of St. Luke, that 
1 every tree is known by its own fruit: for of thorns men 
do not gather figs, nor of a bramble-bush gather they 
grapes. A good man, out of the good treasure of his 
heart, bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil 
man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth 
that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart the 
mouth speaketh ' (Luke vi. 44, 45). And in Matthew's 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 347 

Gospel he counsels his followers thus: 'Let your light so 
shine before men, that they may see your good works, 
and glorify your father which is in heaven' (v. 16.); and 
he declares — f I am not come to call the righteous but 
sinners to repentance ' (ix. 13) of Nathanael, he said: 
1 Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile * 
(John i. 47). Explaining the parable of the sower, he 
uses the following words: ' But that on the good ground 
are they which, in an honest and good heart, having 
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with 
patience ' (Luke, viii. 15). And in the parable of the 
lost sheep: c I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in 
heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over 
ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.' 
(Luke, xv. 7). Of Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth we 
are told, that c they were both righteous before God, 
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
Lord, blameless.' (Luke i. 6.) And the apostle says — 
' Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them 
that call on the Lord out of a pure heart ' (2 Tim. ii. 22) ; 
and again — ' Unto the nure all things are pure ' (Titus, i. 
15). Thus, also, the Psalmist says: ' For thou, Lord, 
wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt thou compass 
him as with a shield' (v. 12). ■ Oh, let the wickedness 
of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just ' 
(vii. 9). ( With the merciful thou wilt show thyself 
merciful, with an upright man thou wilt show thyself 
upright: with the pure in heart thou wilt show thyself 
pure, and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward' 
(xviii. 25, 26). Finally: c Mark the perfect man, and 
behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace ' 
(xxxvii. 37. — See also Psal. i. 1,2; xv. ; xxxii. 11 ; xxxiii. 
15; xxxvii. 16, 17; xcvii. 10 — 12; cxii; cxxviii.) 

Thus it is abundantly evident, that while the human 
mind is represented in Scripture as liable to commit 
every species of wickedness, it is at the same time spoken 
of as possessing moral qualities of a pure and exalted 



348 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

description: *a good man,' we are expressly told, l out 
of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which 
is good. 5 Now, Phrenology shows us, that although the 
mind is endowed with strong animal propensities, which 
are, in the majority of individuals, prone to rush into 
abuse, yet it has received also a variety of moral powers 
— Benevolence, Veneration, Conscientiousness, and Ide- 
ality. This system of philosophy, therefore, in represent- 
ing human nature as possessing excellent and amiable 
qualities is also in harmony with Scripture. 

In the third place, St. Paul, in his Epistle to the 
Romans, argues that ' when the Gentiles, which have not 
the law, do- by nature the things contained in the law, 
these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; 
which show the work of the law written in their hearts, 
their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts, 
the meanwhile, accusing or else excusing one another.' 
(Rom. ii. 14, 15). The reader will recollect, that the 
two classes of faculties — the propensities and moral senti- 
ments — do not appear to the understanding to possess the 
same excellence and authority, but that we are instinc- 
tively conscious that the latter cla <s is of a higher order 
and has been framed by nature to go em the former; and 
that it is from the dictates of the moral sentiments that 
our natural notions of duty begin. Now this is precisely, 
out and out, the doctrine of St. Paul. The Gentiles were 
endowed by nature with Benevolence, Conscientiousness, 
Veneration, and intellect: their intellect, on comparing 
the irregular and excessive manifestations of the animal 
propensities with the dictates of the moral sentiments, 
perceived the opposition between them; and instantly 
their minds stood convicted of offending against a law of 
morality written in their hearts. I cannot conclude this 
branch of the subject without quoting a sentence from 
that most excellent of the Protestant Reformers, Melanc- 
thon: 'Wherefore our decision is this; that those pre- 
cepts which learned men have committed to writing, 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE. 349 

transcribing them from the common reason and common 
feelings of human nature, are to be accounted as not less 
divine than those contained in the tables given to Moses; 
and that it could not be the intention of our Maker to 
supersede by a law graven upon stone, that which is 
written with his own finger on the table of the heart.' 

In the fourth place, we are taught in the Bible, that 
God has given different talents to different individuals — 
to one five talents, to another two, and to another one; 
and that each shall be accountable for only that which he 
hath received. (See Matt. xxv. 14-30, also Rom. xii. 6-8; 
1 Cor. iv. 7. and vii. 7; 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11.) It is impos- 
sible to look at the cerebral development — either animal, 
moral, or intellectual — of any two individuals, and not be 
convinced how precisely Scripture and Phrenology coin- 
cide in this view of human nature; and here also, while 
Phrenology accords with the Bible, many of the other 
systems of mental philosophy stand in opposition to it: 
for not a few philosophers maintain that all men are creat- 
ed with equal talents; and even those who admit a differ- 
ence, merely state the fact, and do not point out either 
the nature or the extent of the variety in the capacities 
and dispositions of individuals, which Phrenology makes 
palpable e r en to the senses. 

Finally, St. Paul observes: ' I know that in mr (that is, 
in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present 
with me; but how to perform that which is good I find 
not. For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil 
which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would 
not, it is no more I that do it, but sin dwelleth in me. 
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is pre- 
sent witb me. For I delight in the law of God, after the 
inward man. But I see another law in my members, 
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into 
captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.' 
(Rom. vi. 19-23.) And again, in the Epistle to the 
Galatians (v. 16): 'For the flesh lusteth against the 

30 



350 ON THE RELATION BETWEEN 

spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are con- 
trary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things 
ye would. But if ye be led by the spirit, ye are not 
under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest; 
which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, las- 
civiousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emula- 
tion, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, 
drunkenness, revellings, and suchlike; of the which I 
tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that 
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom 
of God. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, 
temperance: against such there is no law.' St. Paul is 
here speaking of his own experience as an individual; 
and his description of himself is exactly in accordance 
with that of one class of characters with which phrenology 
makes us acquainted, namely, those in whom large organs 
of the animal propensities are combined with large organs' 
of the moral sentiments and an active temperament. The 
history of St. Paul's life shows that he belonged to this 
class. His original conduct in relation to Christianity 
was that of c breathing out threatenings and slaughter 
against the disciples of the Lord:' 'he made havock of 
the church, entering into every house, ami, haling men 
and women, committed them to prison. ' (Acts, ix. 1 ; viii. 
3.) At this period the propensities held the ascendency. 
After his conversion he continued to feel their solicita- 
tions in the manner forcibly described in the passages 
above quoted from his epistles; but he no longer yielded 
to their abuses. The moral sentiments, under the influ- 
ence of religion, had now assumed the supremacy. It 
will be remarked that he distinctly recognises tl^e inter- 
nal action of both sets of faculties within his own mind. 
1 1 delight,' says he, ' in the law of God, after the inward 
man; but I see another law in my members, warring 
against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity 
to the law of sin which is in my members.' I am aware 



SCIENCE AND SCRIPTURE 351 

hat some divines construe the ' spirit' mentioned in the 
verses quoted from the Epistle to the Galatians, to mean 
the spirit of God, as contradistinguished from human 
nature: but it appears to me that such an interpretation is 
not only wholly unwarranted, but likewise inconsistent 
with the words just cited in italics, where both f laws' are 
spoken of as equally inherent in Paul's nature; and that 
the Apostles, in speaking of ' the spirit' in opposition to 
'the flesh,' allude to the moral and religious sentiments 
of the human mind, as contradistinguished from, the ani- 
mal propensities. In these two passages, St. Paul de- 
scribes { the works of the flesh,' every one of which is an 
abuse of either a propensity or a moral sentiment. He 
describes also the fruit of the spirit — which is, c love, joy, 
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 
ness, temperance;' and all these, it will be observed, are 
legitimate actions of the moral sentiments and intellect. 
He says most truly, that ' against such there is no law.' 
Certainly, none!— because the moral sentiments are the 
ruling powers, and their dictates, when enlightened by 
intellect, are supreme: and no revelation which hag 
emanated from the same source with these faculties cap 
be at variance *ittt their dictates. 



352 



CONCLUSION. 

Ihe question has frequently been asked, What is the 
practical use of Phrenology, even supposing it to be true? 
A few observations will enable us to answer this inquiry, 
and, at the same time, to present a brief summary of the 
doctiine of the preceding Essay. 

Prior to the age of Copernicus, the earth and sun pre- 
sented to the eye phenomena exactly similar to those 
which they now exhibit; but their motions appeared in a 
/ery different light to the understanding. 

Before the age of Newton, the revolutions of the planets 
were known as matter of fact; but the understanding was 
ignorant of the principle of their motions. 

Previous to the dawn of modern chemistry, many of the 
qualities of physical substances were ascertained by ob- 
servation, but their ultimate principles and relations were 
not understood. 

Knowledge, as I observed in the Introduction, may be 
rendered beneficial in two ways, — either by rendering 
the substance discovered directly subservient to human 
enjoyment; or, where this is impossible, by modifying 
human conduct in harmony with its qualities. While 
knowledge of any department of nature remains imperfect 
and empirical, the unknown qualities of the objects be- 
longing to it, may render our efforts either to apply or to 
accord with those which are known, altogether abortive 
Hence it is only after ultimate principles have been dis- 
covered, their relations ascertained, and this knowledge 
systematized, that science can attain its full character of 
utility. The merits of Copernicus and Newton consist in 
having rendered this service to astronomy. 

Before the appearance of Drs. Gall and Spurzheim, 
mankind were practically acquainted with the feelings and 
intellectual operations of their own minds, and anatomists 
knew the appearances of the brain. But the science of 









CONCLUSION. 353 

Mind was very much in the same state as that of the heav- 
enly bodies prior to the times of Copernicus and Newton. 

First, No unanimity prevailed among philosophers con- 
cerning the elementary feelings and intellectual powers 
of man. Individuals deficient in Conscientiousness, for 
instance, denied that the sentiment of justice was a primi- 
tive mental quality of mind. Others, deficient in Vene- 
ration, asserted that man was not naturally prone to 
worship, and ascribed religion to the invention of priests. 

Secondly, The extent to which the primitive faculties 
differ in relative strength, was matter of dispute, or of 
vague conjecture; and concerning many attainments there 
was no agreement among philosophers, whether they were 
the gifts of nature, or the results of mere cultivation. 

Thirdly, Different modes or states of the same feeling 
were often mistaken for different feelings; and modes of 
action of all the intellectual faculties were mistaken for 
distinct faculties. 

Fourthly, The brain, confessedly the most important 
organ of the body, and that with which the nerves of the 
senses, of motion, and of feeling directly communicate, 
had no ascertained functions. Mankind were ignorant 
of its uses, and of its influence on the mental faculties. 
They indeed still dispute that its different parts are the 
organs of different mental powers, and that the vigor of 
manifestation bears a proportion, cceteris paribus, to the 
size of the organ. 

If, in physics, imperfect and empirical knowledge ren- 
ders the unknown qualities of bodies liable to frustrate 
the efforts of man to apply or to accommodate his conduct 
to their known qualities; and if only a complete and sys- 
tematic exhibition of ultimate principles, and their rela- 
tions, can confer on science its full character of utility, — 
the same doctrine applies with equal or greater force to 
the philosophy of man. 

Politics embrace forms of government, and the rela- 
tions between different states. All government is design 

30* 



354 CONCLUSION 

ed to combine the efforts of individuals, and to regulate 
their conduct when united. To arrive at the best means 
of accomplishing this end, systematic knowledge of the 
nature of man seems highly important. A despotism, for 
example, may restrain some abuses of the lower propen- 
sities, but it assuredly impedes the exercise of reflection, 
and others of the highest and noblest powers. A form of 
government can be suited to the nature of man only when 
it is calculated to permit the legitimate use, and to re- 
strain the abuses, of all his mental feelings and capaci- 
ties; and how can such a government be devised, while 
these principles with their spheres of action, and external 
relations, are imperfectly ascertained? Again, all rela- 
tions between different states must also be in accordance 
with the nature of man, to prove permanently beneficial ; 
and the question recurs, How are these to be framed 
while that nature is matter of conjecture? Napoleon dis- 
believed in a sentiment of justice as an innate quality of 
the mind, and, in his relations with other states, relied on 
fear and interest as the grand motives of conduct: but 
that sentiment existed, and, combined with other faculties 
which he outraged, prompted Europe to hurl htm from 
his throne. If Napoleon had comprehended the principles 
of human nature, and their relations, as forcibly and clearly 
as the principles of mathematics, in which he excelled, his 
understanding would have greatly modified his conduct, 
and Europe would have escaped prodigious calamities. 

Legislation, civil and criminal, is intended to regulate 
and direct the human faculties in their efforts al gratifica- 
tion; and laws, to be useful, must accord with the consti- 
tution of these faculties. But how can salutary laws be 
enacted, while the subject to be governed, or human 
nature, is not accurately understood? The inconsistency 
and intricacy of the laws even in enlightened nations, 
have afforded themes for the satirist in eveiy age; and 
now could the case be otherwise ? Legislators provided 
rules for directing the qualities of human nature, which 
they conceived themselves to know; but either error ic 



CONCLUSION. 355 

their conceptions, or the effects of other qualities un- 
known or unattended to, defeated their intentions. The 
law, for example, punishing heresy with burning, was 
addressed by our ancestors to Cautiousness, Self-Love, 
and other inferior feelings; but Intellect, Veneration, 
Conscientiousness, and Firmness, were omitted in their 
estimate of human principles of action; and these set 
their law at defiance. 

There are many laws still in the statute book, equally 
at variance with the nature of man. 

Education is intended to enlighten the intellect, to 
train it and the moral sentiments to vigor, and to repress 
the too great activity of the selfish feelings But how 
can this be successfully accomplished, when the faculties 
and sentiments themselves, the laws to which they are 
subjected, and their relations to external objects, are 
unascertained. Accordingly, the theories and practices 
observed in education are innumerable and contradictory, 
which could not happen if men knew the constitution of 
the object which they were training. 

In the 'Essai sur la Statistique morale de la France,' 
par A. M. Guerry (a Paris chez Crochard Libraire, 
1833), it is stated, that crimes against property and per- 
son are most numerous in proportion to the population in 
those departments of France — the north and east — in 
which the people are the best educated, the richest, and 
most industrious. This must be owing in part to the 
increased power which education gives of doing either 
good or evil, and partly to defects in the education afford- 
ed. The philosophy of man being unknown, children are 
not taught any rational views of the plan of life; they are 
not instructed in the constitution of society; and have no 
sufficient information afforded concerning the sources of 
real enjoyment. They are not taught any system of 
morals, based on the nature of man and his social rela- 
tions; but left each to grope his way to happiness, accord- 
ing to the dictates of his individual mind. They see the 
rich pursuing pleasure and fashion, and if they follow such 



356 > CONCLUSION. 

examples, they must resort to crime for the means of 
gratification; yet -there is no solid instruction given to 
them, sufricient to satisfy their understandings that the 
rich themselves are straying from the paths that lead to 
solid and lasting happiness, and that it is to be found only 
in other and higher occupations. 

Morals and religion, also, cannot assume a systematic 
and demonstrable character, until the elementary quali- 
ties of mind, and their relations, shall be ascertained. 

It is presumable that the Deity, in creating the moral 
powers and the external world, really adapted the one to 
the other; so that individuals and nations, in pursuing 
morality, must, in every instance, be promoting their best 
interests, and, in departing from it, must be sacrificing 
them to passion or to illusory notions of advantage. But, 
until the nature of man, and the relationship between it 
and the external world, shall be scientifically ascertained, 
and systematically expounded, it will be impossible to 
support morality by the powerful demonstration of interest 
coinciding with it. The tendency in most men to view 
expediency as not always coincident with justice, affords a 
striking proof of the limited knowledge of the constitution 
of man and the external world, still existing in society. 

The diversities of doctrine in religion also, obviously 
owe their origin to ignorance of the primitive faculties 
and their relations. The faculties differ in relative 
strength in different individuals, and each person is most 
alive to objects and views connected with the powers pre- 
dominant in himself. Hence, in reading the Scriptures, 
one is convinced that they establish Calvinism; another, 
possessing a different combination of faculties, discovers 
in them Lutheranism; and a third is satisfied that Socini- 
anism is the only true interpretation. These individuals 
have, in general, no distinct conception that the views 
which strike them most forcibly, appear in a different 
light to minds differently constituted. A correct inter- 
pretation of revelation must harmonize with the dictates 
of the moral sentiments and intellect, holding the animal 



CONCLUSION. 357 

propensities in subordination. It may legitimately go 
beyond what they, unaided, could reach; but it cannot 
contradict them; because this would be setting the reve- 
lation of the Bible in opposition to the inherent dictates 
of the faculties constituted by the Creator, which cannot 
be admitted; as the Deity is too powerful and wise to be 
inconsistent. But mankind will never be induced to bow 
to such interpretations, while each takes his individual 
mind as a standard of human nature in general, and con- 
ceives that his own impressions are synonymous with ab- 
solute truth. The establishment of the nature of man, 
therefore, on a scientific basis, and in a systematic form, 
must aid the cause of both morality and religion. 

The professions, pursuits, hours of exertion, and 
amusements of individuals, ought also to bear reference 
to their physical and mental constitution; but hitherto no 
guiding principle has been possessed to regulate practice 
in these important particulars, — another evidence that the 
science of man has been unknown. 

In consequence of the want of a philosophy of man, 
there is little harmony between the different departments 
of human pursuit. God is one; and as He is intelligent, 
benevolent, and powerful, we may reasonably conclude 
that creation is one harmonious system, in which the phy- 
sical is adapted iu the moral, the moral to the physical, 
and every department of these grand divisions, to the 
whole. But at present, many principles clearly revealed 
by philosophy are impracticable, because the institutions of 
society have not been founded with a due regard to their 
existence. An educated lady, for example, or a member 
of the learned professions, may perceive with the clearest 
conviction that Go3, by the manner in which he has 
constituted the body, and connected the mind with the 
brain, has positively enjoined muscular exertion as indis- 
pensable to the possession of sound health, the enjoyment 
of life, and the rearing of a healthy offspring; and, never- 
theless, they may find themselves so hedged round by 
routine of employment, the fashions of society, the influ- 



358 CONCLUSION 

ence of opinion, and the positive absence of all arrange- 
ments suited to the purpose, that they shall be rendered 
nearly as incapable of yielding this obedience to God's 
law as if they were imprisoned in a dungeon. 

By religion we are commanded to set our affections on 
things above, and not to permit our minds to be engrossed 
with the cares of the world; we are desired to seek god- 
liness, and eschew selfishness, contention, and the vani- 
ties of life. These precepts must have been intended to 
be practically followed, otherwise it was a mockery of 
mankind to give them forth: But if they were intended 
to be practised, God must have arranged the inherent 
constitution of man, and of the world, in such a manner 
as to admit of mankind following them* and not only so, 
but to render men happy in proportion as they should 
practise, and miserable as they should neglect them. 
Nevertheless, when we survey human society in the forms 
in which it has hitherto existed, and in which it now ex- 
ists, these precepts appear to have been, and to be now, 
absolutely impracticable to ninety-nine out of every hun- 
dred of civilized men. Suppose the most eloquent and 
irresistibly convincing discourse on the Christian duties to 
be delivered on Sunday to a congregation of Manchester 
manufacturers and their operatives, or to London mer- 
chants, Essex farmers, or Westminster lawyers, how 
would they find their respective spheres of life adapted 
for acting practically on their convictions? They are all 
commanded to love God with their whole heart and soul, 
and to resist the world and the flesh, or, in philosophical 
language, to support their moral affections, and intellec- 
tual powers, in habitual activity, to direct them to noble, 
elevating, and beneficial objects, and to resist the subju- 
gation of these higher attributes of their minds to animal 
pleasure, sordid selfishness, and worldly ambition. The 
moral and intellectual powers assent to the reasonable- 
ness of these precepts, and rejoice in the prospect of 
their practical application; but, on Monday morning, the 
manufacturers, owing to the institutions of society, and 



CONCLUSION 359 

he department of life into which they have been cast, 
before they had either reason or moral perception to di- 
rect their choice, must commence a course of ceaseless 
toil, — the workmen that they may support life, and the 
masters that they may avoid ruin, or accumulate wealth. 
Saturday evening finds them worn out with mental and 
physical exertion, continued through all the intermediate 
days, and directed to pursuits connected with this world 
alone. Sunday dawns upon them in a state of mind 
widely at variance with the Christian condition. In like 
manner, the merchant must devote himself to his bar- 
gains, the farmer to his plough, and the lawyer to his 
briefs, with corresponding assiduity; so that their moral 
powers have neither objects presented to them, nor vigor 
left, for enjoyments befitting their nature and desires. 
It is in vain to say to individuals that they err in acting 
thus: individuals are carried along in the great stream of 
social institutions and pursuits. The operative laborer 
is compelled to follow his routine of toil under pain of 
absolute starvation. The master manufacturer, the mer- 
chant, the farmer, and the lawyer, are pursued by com- 
petitors so active, that if they relax in selfish ardor, 
they, too, will be speedily plunged into ruin. If God 
has so constituted the human mind and body, and so 
arranged external nature, that all this is unavoidably ne- 
cessary for man, then the Christian precepts are scarcely 
more suited to human nature and circumstances in this 
world, than the command to fly would be to the nature 
of the Tiorse. If, on the other hanS 1 , man's nature and 
circumstances do in themselves admit of the Christian 
precepts being realized, it is obvious that a great revolu- 
tion must take place in our notions, principles of action 
practices, and social institutions, before this can "be ac- 
complished. That many Christian teachers believe this 
improvement possible, and desire its execution, I cannot 
doubt; but through want of a knowledge of the consti- 
tuent elements of human nature, and their relations,— 
through want, in short, of a philosophy of mind, and of 



360 CONCLUSION 

physical nature, they have never been able to perceive 
intellectually, what God has rendered man capable of 
attaining, how it may be attained, or on what principle? 
the moral and physical government of the world in regard 
to man is conducted. Consequently, they have not acted 
generally on the idea of religion being a branch of an all- 
comprehending philosophy; they have relied chiefly on 
inculcating the precepts of their Master, threatening 
future punishments for infringement, and promising future 
rewards for observance, without proving to society phi- 
losophically, not only that its institutions, practices, and 
principles, must be formed on higher data than they are 
at present, before it can become truly Christian, but that 
these improvements are actually within the compass of 
human nature, aided by revelation. Individuals in whom 
there is a strong aspiration after the realization of the 
Christian state -of society, but whose intellects cannot 
perceive any natural means by which it can be produced, 
take refuge in the regions of prophecy, and expect a 
miraculous reign of saints in the Millennium. How much 
more profitable would it be to study the philosophy of 
man's nature, which is obviously the work of God, and 
endeavor to introduce morality and happiness by the 
means appointed by Him in creation! Supernatural agen- 
cy has long since ceased to interfere with human affairs, 
and whenever it shall operate again, we may presume 
that it will neither be assisted nor retarded by human 
opinions and speculations. 

We need only attend to the scenes daily presenting 
themselves in society, to obtain irresistible demonstration 
of the many evil consequences resulting from the want 
of a true theory of human nature, and its relations. 
Every preceptor in schools, every professor in colleges, 
every author, editor, and pamphleteer, every member of 
Parliament, counsellor and judge, has a set of notions of. 
his own, which, in his mind, hold the place of a system 
of the philosophy of man; and although he may not have 
methodized his ideas, or even acknowledged them to 



CONCLUSION. 361 

himself as a theory, yet they constitute a standard to 
him by which he practically judges of all questions in 
morals, politics, and religion; he advocates whatever 
views coincide with them, and condemns all that differ 
from them, with as unhesitating a dogmatism as the most 
pertinacious theorist on earth. Each also despises the 
notions of his fellows, in so far as they differ from his 
own In short, the human faculties too generally ope- 
rate simply as instincts, exhibiting all the confliction and 
uncertainty of mere feeling, unenlightened by perception 
of their own nature and objects. Hence public measures 
in general, whether relating to education, religion, trade, 
manufactures, the poor, criminal law, or to any other of 
the dearest interests of society, instead of being treated 
as branches of one general system of economy, and 
adjusted on scientific principles each in harmony with all 
the rest, are supported or opposed on narrow and empi- 
rical grounds, and often call forth displays of ignorance, 
prejudice, selfishness, intolerance and bigotry, that great- 
ly obstruct the progress of improvement. Indeed, any 
important approach to unanimity, even among sensible 
and virtuous men, will be impossible, so long as no 
standard of mental philosophy is admitted to guide indi- 
vidual feelings and perceptions. But the state of things 
now described could not exist, if education embraced a 
true system of kuman nature and its relations. 

If, then, the doctrine of the natural laws here expound- 
ed be true, it will, when matured, supply the deficiencies 
just pointed out. 

But, here, another question naturally presents itself, 
How are the views explained in this work, supposing 
them to contain some portion of truth, to be rendered 
practical? Sound views of human nature and of the divine 
government come home to the feelings and intellects of 
men; they perceive them to possess a substantive exist- 
ence and reality which rivet attention and command re- 
spect. If the doctrine unfolded in this work be in any 

31 



362 CONCLUSION. 

degree true, it is destined to operate proportionally on the 
character of clerical instruction. Individuals whose minds 
have embraced the views which it contains, inform mo 
that many sermons appear to them inconsistent in their 
different propositions, at variance with sound views of 
human nature, and so vague as to have little practical 
relation to life and conduct. They partake of the ab- 
stractedness of the scholastic philosophy. The first 
divine of comprehensive intellect and powerful sentiments 
who shall take courage and introduce the natural laws 
into his discourses, and teach the people the works of the 
Creator and his institutions, will reap a great reward in 
usefulness and pleasure. If this course shall, as hereto- 
fore, be neglected, the people, who are daily increasing 
in useful and scientific knowledge, will in a few years 
look down with disrespect on their clerical guides, and 
probably remodel the entire system of pulpit instruction. 
The institutions and manners of society indicate the 
state of mind of the influential classes at the time when 
they prevail. The trial and burning of old women as 
witches, point out clearly the predominance of Destruc- 
tiveness and Wonder over Intellect and Benevolence, in 
those who were guilty of such cruel absurdities. The 
practices of wager of battle, and ordeal by fire and water, 
indicate Combativeness, Destructiveness, and Veneration, 
to have been in great activity in those who permitted 
them, combined with much intellectual ignorance of the 
natural constitution of the world. In like manner, the 
enormous sums willingly expended in war, and the small 
sums grudgingly paid for public improvements; the in- 
tense energy displayed in the pursuit of wealth; and the 
general apathy evinced in the search after knowledge and 
virtue, unequivocally proclaim activity of Combativeness, 
Destructiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, and Love 
of Approbation; with comparatively moderate vivacity of 
Benevolence and Intellect, in the present generation 
Before, therefore, the practices of mankind can be al 
tered, the state of their minds must be changed. Nt 



conclusion. 363 

practical error can be greater yian that of establishing 
institutions greatly in advance of the mental condition of 
the people. The rational method is, first to instruct the 
intellecjt, then to interest the sentiments, and, last of all 
to form arrangements in harmony with, and resting on, 
these as their basis. 

The views developed in the preceding chapters, if 
founded in nature, may be expected to lead, ultimately, 
to considerable changes in many of the customs and pur- 
suits of society; but to accomplish this effect, the princi- 
ples themselves must be first ascertained to be true, and 
then they must be sedulously taught. It appears to me 
that a long series of years will be necessary to bring even 
civilized nations into a condition to obey systematically 
the natural laws. 

The preceding chapters may be regarded, in one sense, 
as an introduction to an Essay on Education. If the 
views unfolded in them be in general sound, it will follow 
that education has scarcely yet commenced. If the 
Creator has bestowed on the body, on the mind, and on 
external nature, determinate constitutions, and arranged 
them so as to act on each other, and to produce happi- 
ness or misery to man, according to certain definite prin- 
ciples,- — and if this action goes on invariably, inflexibly, 
and irresistibly, whether men attend to it or not, — it is 
obvious that the very basis of useful knowledge must con- 
sist in an acquaintance with these natural arrangements, 
and that education will be valuable in the exact degree 
in which it communicates such information, and trains 
the faculties to act upon it. Reading, writing, and ac- 
counts, which make up the instruction enjoyed by the 
lower orders, are merely means of acquiring knowledge, 
but do not constitute it. Greek, Latin, and mathematics, 
which are added in»the education of the middle classes, 
are still only means of obtaining information: so that, 
with the exception of the few who pursue physica 
science, society dedicates very little attention to the study 
of the natural laws. In following out the views now dis* 



364 CONCLUSION, 

cussed, therefore, each individual, according as he be- 
comes acquainted with the natural laws, ought to obey 
them, and to communicate his experience of their opera- 
tions to others; avoiding at the same time, all attempts at 
subverting, by violence, established institutions, or out- 
raging public sentiment by intemperate discussions. The 
doctrine now unfolded, if true, authorizes us to predicate 
that the most successful method of ameliorating the 
condition of mankind, will be that which appeals most 
directly to their moral sentiments and intellect; and, I 
may add from experience and observation, that, in pro- 
portion as any individual becomes acquainted with the 
real constitution of the human mind, will his conviction 
of the efficacy of this method increase. 

The next step ought to be to teach those laws to the 
young.* Their minds, not being occupied by prejudices, 
will recognise them as congenial to their constitution; 
the first generation that has embraced them from infancy 
will proceed to modify the institutions of society into 
accordance with their dictates; and in the course of ages 
they may at length be acknowledged as practically use- 
ful. A perception of the importance of the natural laws 
will lead to their observance, and this will be attended 
with an improved development of brain, thereby in- 
creasing the desire and capacity for obedience. All truz 
theories have ultimately been adopted and influenced 
practice; and I see no reason to fear that the present, if 
true, will prove an exception. The failure of all previous 
systems is the natural consequence of their being un- 
founded; if this one shall resemble them, it will deserve, 
and assuredly will meet with, a similar fate. 

Finally, If it be true that the Natural Laws must be 
obeyed as a preliminary condition to happiness in this 
world, and if virtue and happiness be inseparably allied, 
the religious instructers of mankind may probably dis- 



* Some observations on Education will be found in the Phrenolo' 
gical Journal, vol. iv. p. 407. 



CONCLUSION. 365 

cover in the general and prevalent ignorance of these 
laws, one reason of the limited success which has hitherto 
attended their own efforts at improving the condition of 
mankind; and they may perhaps perceive it to be not 
inconsistent with their sacred office, to instruct men in 
the natural institutions of the Creator, in addition to his 
revealed will, and to recommend obedience to both. 
They exercise so vast an influence over the best members 
of society, that their countenance may hasten, or their 
opposition retard, by a century, the practical adoption of 
the natural laws, as sound guides of human conduct. 

If the excessive toil of the manufacturer be inconsistent 
with that elevation of the moral and intellectual faculties 
of man which is commanded by religion, and if the moral 
and physical welfare of mankind be not at variance with 
each other (which they cannot be), the institutions of 
society out of which the necessity for that labor arises, 
must, philosophically speaking, be pernicious to the 
interests of the state as a political body, and to the tem- 
poral welfare of the individuals who compose it; and 
whenever we shall be in possession of a correct know- 
ledge of the elements of human nature, and the principles 
on which God has constituted the world, the philosophical 
evidence that these practices are detrimental to our tempo- 
ral welfare, will be as clear as their inconsistency with 
our religious duties. Until, however, divines shall be- 
come acquainted with this relation between philosophy 
and religion, they will not possess adequate means to 
render their precepts practical in this world ; they will not 
carry the intellectual perceptions of their hearers fully 
along with them; they will be incapable of controlling 
the force of the animal propensities; and they will never 
lead society to fulfilment of its highest destinies. At 
present, the animal propensities are fortified in the strong 
intrenchments of social institutions; Acquisitiveness, for 
example, is protected and fostered by our arrangements 
for accumulating wealth; a worldly spirit, by our con- 

31* 



366 CONCLUSION. 

stant struggle to obtain the means of subsistence; pride 
and vanity by our artificial distinctions of rank and 
fashion; and Combativeness and Destructiveness by our 
warlike professions. The divine assails these powers by 
Jhe denunciations of the Gospel; but as long as society 
shall be animated by different principles, and maintain 
in vigor, institutions in diametrical opposition to its 
doctrines, so long will it be difficult for him to realize 
his precepts in practice. But, it appears to me, that by 
teaching mankind the philosophy of their own nature, 
and of the world in which they live, by proving to them 
the coincidence between the dictates of this philosophy 
and Christian morality, and the inconsistency of their 
own institutions with both, they may be induced to mo- 
dify the latter, and to intrench the moral powers, and 
then the triumph of virtue and religion will be more com- 
plete. Those who advocate exclusively the importance 
of spiritual religion for the improvement of mankind, 
appear to me to have erred in overlooking to too great 
an extent the necessity of complying with the natural 
conditions on which all improvement depends; and I 
anticipate that when schools and colleges shall expound 
the various branches of philosophy as portions of the 
institutions of the Creator; when the pulpit shall deal 
with the same principles, show their practical application 
to man's duties and enjoyments, and add the sanctions of 
religion to enforce their observance; and when the busy 
scenes of life shall be so arranged as to become the field 
for the practice at once of our philosophy and our religion, 
then man will have assumed hi3 station as a rational 
being, and Christianity will have achieved her triumph 






APPENDIX. 



NATURAL LAWS. — Text, p. 27. 

Tn the text it is mentioned, that many philosophers have treated 
»f the Laws of Nature. The following are examples : — 

Mr. Stewart says, ' To examine the economy of nature in the 
phenomena of the lower animals, and to compare their instincts 
with the physical circumstances of their external situation, forms 
one of the finest speculations of Natural History ; and yet it is a 
speculation to which the attention of the natural historian has 
seldom been directed. Not only BufFon, but Ray and Derham, 
have passed it over slightly; nor, indeed, do I know of any one 
who has made it the object of a particular consideration but Lord 
Karnes, in a short Appendix to one of his Sketches.' — Elements 
of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, vol. iii. p. 368. 

Mr. Stewart also uses the following words : — ' Numberless ex- 
amples show that Nature has done no more for man than was 
necessary for his preservation, leaving him to make many acquisi- 
tions for himself, which she has imparted immediately to the 
brutes. 

i My own idea is, as I have said on a different occasion, that 
both instinct and experience are here concerned, and that the share 
which belongs to each in producing the result, can be ascertained 
by an appeal to facts alone.' — Vol. iii. ch. 338. 

Montesquieu introduces his Spirit of Laws by the following 
observations :— ' Laws, in their most general signification, are the 
necessary relations derived from the nature of things. In this 
sense, all beings "have their laws ; the Deity has his laws ; the 
material world its laws ; the intelligences superior to man have 
their laws ; the beasts their laws ; man his laws. 

1 Those who assert that a blind fatality produced the various 
effects we behold in this world, are guilty of a very great absurdity ; 
for can any thing be more absurd than to pretend that a blind 
fatality could be productive of intelligent beings ? 



368 APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. 

1 There is, then, a primitive reason ; and laws are the relations 
which subsist between it and different beings, and the relations of 
these beings among themselves. 

1 God is related to the universe as Creator and preserver ; the 
laws by which he has created all things are those by which he pre- 
serves them. He acts according to these rules, because he knows 
them : he knows them because he has made them ; and he made 
them because they are relative to his wisdom and power, &c. 

' Man, as a physical being, is, like other bodies, gorerned by inva- 
riable laws.\ — Spirit of Laws, b. i. c. i. 

Justice Blackstone observes, that 'Law, in its most general 
and comprehensive sense, signifies a rule of action ; and is appliea 
indiscriminately to all kinds of action, whether animate or inanimate^ 
rational or irrational. Thus we say, the laws of motion, of gravi- 
tation, of optics, or mechanics, as well as the laws of nature and 
of nations. Thus, when the Supreme Being formed the universe, 
and created matter out of nothing, he impressed certain principles 
upon that matter, from which it can never depart, and without 
which it would cease to be. When he put that matter into mo- 
tion, he established certain laws of motion, to which all movable 
bodies must conform.' — i If we farther advance from mere inactive 
matter to vegetable and animal life, we shall, find them still 
governed by laws ; more numerous, indeed, but equally fixed 
and invariable. The whole progress of plants, from the seed to 
the root, and from thence to the seed again ; — the method of ani- 
mal nutrition, digestion, secretion, and all other branches of vital 
economy ; — are not left to chance, or the will of the creature itself, 
but are performed in a wondrous involuntary manner, and guided 
by unerring rules laid down by the great Creator. This, then, is 
the general signification of law, a rule of action dictated by some 
superior being ; and in those creatures that have neither power to 
think, nor the will, such laws must be invariably obeyed, so long 
as the creature itself subsists ; for its existence depends on that 
obedience.' — Blackstone 1 s Commentaries on the Laws of England, 
vol. i. sect. 2. v 

' The word law, 1 says Mr. Erskine, ' is frequently made use of, 
both by divines and philosophers, in a large acceptation, to express 
the settled method of God's providence, by which he preserves the 
order of the material world in such a manner, that nothing in 
it may deviate from that uniform course which he has appointed for 
it. And as brute matter is merely passive, without the least de* 
gree of choice upon its part, these laws are inviolably observ- 






APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. 369 

id in the material creation, every part of which continues to act, 
immutably, according to the rules that were from the beginning pre- 
scribed to it by Infinite Wisdom. Thus philosophers have given the 
appellation of law to that motion which incessantly pervades and 
agitates the universe, and is ever changing the form and substance 
of things, dissolving some, and raising others, as from their ashes, 
to fill up the void : Yet so, that amidst all the fluctuations by 
which particular things are affected, the universe is still preserved 
without diminution. Thus also they speak of the laws of fluids, 
of gravitation, &c. and the word is used, in this sense, in several 
passages of the sacred writings ; in the book of Job, and in Prov- 
erbs viii. 29, where God is said to have given his law to the seas 
that they should not pass his commandment.' — Drskine's Institutes 
of the Law of Scotland, book i. tit. i. sect. 1. 

Discussions about the Laws of Nature, rather than inquiries 
into them, were common in France, during the Revolution : and, 
having become associated, in imagination, with the crimes and 
horrors of that period, they continue to be regarded, by some 
individuals, as inconsistent with religion and morality. A coinci- 
dence between the views maintained in the preceding Essay, and 
a passage in Yolney, has been pointed out to me, as an objection 
to the whole doctrine. Volney's words are the following : — ' It 
is a law of nature, that water flows from an upper to a lower situ- 
ation ; that it seeks its level ; that it is heavier than air ; that all 
bodies tend towards the earth ; the flame rises towards the sky ; 
that it destroys the organization of vegetables and animals ; that 
air is essential to the life of certain animals : that, in certain cases, 
water suffocates and kills them ; that certain juices of plants, and 
certain minerals, attack their organs, and destroy their life ; — and 
the same of a variety of facts. 

' Now, since these facts, and many similar ones, are constant, 
regular, and immutable, they become so many real and positive 
commands, to which man is bound to conform, under the express 
penalty of punishment attached to their infraction, or well-being 
connected with their observance. So that if a man were to pre- 
tend to see clearly in the dark, or is regardless of the progress of 
the seasons, or the action of the elements ; if he pretends to exist 
under water, without drowning ; to handle fire without burning 
himself; to deprive himself of air without suffocating ; or to drink 
poison without destroying himself; he receives, for each infrac- 
tion of the law of nature, a corporal punishment proportioned to 
his transgression. If, on the contrary, he observes these lawa» 



370 APPENDIX. NATURAL LAWS. 

and founds his practice on the precise and regular relation which 
they bear to him, he preserves his existence, and renders it aa 
happy as it is capable of being rendered ; and since all these laws, 
considered in relation to the human species, have in view only 
one common end, that of their preservation and their happiness : 
whence it has been agreed to assemble together the different ideas, 
and express them by a single word, and call them collectively by 
the name of the ' Law of Nature.' — Volney's Law of Nature, 3a 
edit. p. 21, 24. 

I feel no embarrassment by this coincidence ; but remark, first, 
That various authors, quoted in the text and in this note, advocat- 
ed the importance of the laws of nature, long before the French 
Revolution was heard of; secondly, That the existence of the laws 
of nature is as obvious to the understanding, as the existence of 
the external world, and of the human mind and body themselves 
to the senses ; thirdly, That these laws, being inherent in crea- 
tion, must have proceeded from the Deity : fourthly, That if the 
Deity is powerful, just, and benevolent, they must harmonize 
with the constitution of man ; and, lastly, That if the laws of 
nature have been instituted by the Deity, and been framed in wise 
benevolent, and just relationship to the human constitution, they 
must at all times form the highest and most important subjects 
of human investigation, and remain altogether unaffected by the 
errors, follies, and crimes of those who endeavor to expound 
them ; just as religion continues holy; venerable, and uncontami- 
nated, notwithstanding the hypocrisy, wickedness, and inconsis- 
tency of individuals professing themselves her interpreters and 
friends. 

That the views of the natural laws themselves, advocated in 
this Essay, are diametrically opposite to the practical conduct of 
the French revolutionary ruffians, requires no demonstration. My 
fundamental principle is, that man can enjoy happiness on earth 
only by placing his habitual conduct under the supremacy of the 
moral sentiments and intellect, and that this is the law of his na- 
ture. No doctrine can be more opposed than this to fraud, rob- 
bery, blasphemy, and murder. 

It may be urged, that all past speculations about the laws of 
nature have proved more imposing than useful ; and that, while 
the laws themselves afford materials for elevated declamation on 
the part of philosophers, they form no secure guides even to the 
learned, and much less to the illiterate, in practical conduct. In 
answer, I would respectfully repeat what has frequently been urged 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 37 i 

in the text, that, before we can discover the laws of nature, ap- 
plicable to man, we must know, first, The constitution of man 
himself; secondly, The constitution of external nature; and, 
thirdly, We must compare the two. But, previous to the discovery 
of Phrenology, the mental constitution of man was a matter of 
vague conjecture, and endless debate ; and the connection between 
his mental powers and his organized system, was involved in the 
deepest obscurity. The brain, the most important organ of the 
body, had no ascertained functions. Before the introduction of 
this science, therefore, men were rather impressed with the un- 
speakable importance of the knowledge of the laws of nature, 
than acquainted with the laws themselves ; and even the know- 
ledge of the external world actually possessed, could not, in many 
instances, be rendered available, on account of its relationship to 
the qualities of man being unascertained, and unascertainable, so 
long as these qualities themselves were unknown. 



NOTE I. 

ORGANIC LAWS.— Text, p. 118. 

On the subject of the sufferings of women in childbed, the fol- 
lowing authorities may be referred to:-»~ 

' One thing,' says Mr. Alison, ' is very remarkable, and occurs 
in most cases of concealment and childmurder, viz. the strength 
and capability for exertion evinced by women in the inferior 
ranks shortly after childbirth, — appearances so totally different 
from those exhibited in the higher orders, that, to persons ac- 
quainted only with cases among the latter, they would appear 
incredible. In the case just mentioned (that of Catharine Butler or 
Anderson, at Aberdeen, in spring 1829), the mother, two or three 
days after her delivery, walked from Inveruiy to Huntly, a distance 
of twenty-eight miles, in a single day, with her child on her back. 
Similar occurrences daily are proved in cases of this description. 
It is not unusual to find women engaged in reapirg, retire to a 
little distance, effect their delivery by themselves, return to their 
fellow laborers, and go on with their work during the remainder 
of the day, without any other change of appearance but looking a 
little paler and thinner. Such a fact occurred in the case of Jean 
Smith, Ayr, spring 1824. Again - , in the case of Ann Macdou- 
gall, Aberdeen, spring 1823, it appeared that the panel, who was 
Bleeping in bed with two other servants, rose, was delivered, and 



J72 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 

returned to bed, without any of them being conscious of what had 
occurred. Instances have even occurred in which women have 
walked six and eight miles on the very day of their delivery, 
without any sensible inconvenience. Many" respectable medical 
practitioners, judging from what they have observed among the 
higher ranks, would pronounce such facts impossible ; but they 
occur so frequently among the laboring classes as to form a point 
worth) of knowledge in criminal jurisprudence ; and to render 
perfectly credible what is said of the female American Indians, 
that they fall behind for a little, on their journeys through the 
forests, deliver themselves, and shortly make up to their hus- 
bands, and continue their journey with their offspring on their 
back.' — Alison's Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland, pp. 
161—162. 

Mr. Lawrence observes, ' that the very easy labors of negress- 
es, native Americans, and other women in the savage state, have 
been often noticed by travellers. This point is not explicable by 
any prerogative of physical formation ; for the pelvis is rather 
smaller in these dark-colored races than in the European and 
other white people. Simple diet, constant and laborious exertion, 
give to these children of nature n hardiness of constitution, and 
exempt them from most of the ills which afflict the indolent and 
luxurious females of civilized societies. In the latter, however, 
the hard-working women of the lower classes in the country 
often suffer as little from child-birth as those of any other race. 
Analogous differences, from the like causes, may be seen in the 
animal kingdom. Cows kept in towns, and other animals, de- 
prived of their healthful exercise, and accustomed to unnatural 
food and habits, often have difficult labors, and suffer much in 
parturition.' — Lawrence 1 s Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, ana 
the Natural History of Man.— 1S22. Vol. ii. p. 190. 

Among the Araucanian Indians of South America, ' a mother , 
immediately on her delivery, takes her child, and going down tt 
the nearest stream of water, washes herself and it, and returns to 
the usual labors of her station.' — Stevenson 1 s Twenty Years 9 Resi- 
dence in South America. Vol. i. p. 9. 

NOTE II. 

HEREDITARY TRANSMISSION OF QUALITIES.— Text, p. 152. 

Fortified by the observations made in the text, I venture to 
cite some additional authorities, and to record some farther facta 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 373 

communicated by persons on whose accuracy reliance may be 
laced, in support of the doctrine of the transmission of qualities 
by hereditary descent. 

1 The advice which I am now about to give, is indeed no other 
than what hath been given by those who have undertaken*this 
argument before me. You will ask me, what is that ? 'Tis this, 
that no man keep company with his wife for issue sake, but when 
he is sober — as not having before either drunk any wine, or, at 
least, not to such a quantity as to distemper him ; for they usually 
prove wine-bibbers and drunkards whose parents begot then? 
when they were drunk : wherefore Diogenes said to a stripling 
somewhat crack-brained and half-witted, Surely, young man, thy 
father begot thee when he was drunk.' — Plutarch's Morals, trans- 
lation published at London, 1718, vol. i. p. 2. 

It is remarked by Burton in his Anatomy of Melancholy, that 
if a drunken man gets a child, it will never, likely, have a good 
brain.' 

The following case fell under my own observation : — W. B. 
shoemaker in Portsburgh, called and showed me his son, aged 18, 
who is in a state of idiocy. He is simple and harmless, but never 
could do any -thing for himself. His father said that his wife was 
sound in mind ; that he has other three children all sound, and 
that the only account he could ever give of the condition of this 
son was, that he kept a public-house, and some months before the 
feilth of this boy an idiot lad came round with a brewer's drayman 
and helped him to lift the casks off the cart ; that that idiot made 
a strong impression on his wife ; that she complained that she 
could not get his appearance removed from her mind; and that 
she kept out of the way when he came to the house afterwards ; 
that his son was weak in body from birth, and silly in mind, and 
had the slouched and slovenly appearance of the idiot. 

The following cases are recorded in the Phrenological Journal : 
1 1 now proceed to give some facts strongly illustrative of the doc- 
trine, that Jthe faculties which predominate in power and activity 
in the parents, when the organic existence of the child com- 
mences, determine its future mental dispositions. This is a doc- 
trine to which, from its great practical importance, I would beg 
leave to call your serious attention. It was remarked by the 
celebrated Esquirol, i that the children whose existence dated 
from the horrors of the first French Revolution, turned out to 
be weak, nervous, and irritable in mind, extremely susceptible 
of impressions, and liable to be thrown by the least extraordinary 

32 2 



374 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 

excitement into absolute insanity.' Sometimes, too, family cai* 
mities produce serious effects upon the offspring. A very intelli- 
gent and respectable mother, upon hearing this principle expound- 
ed, remarked that there was a very wide difference in the intel- 
lectual and moral development between one of her children and 
the others ; and accounted for this difference by the fact, that, 
during pregnancy, she received intelligence that the crew of the 
ship, on board of which was her son, had mutinied — that when 
the ship arrived in the West Indies, some of the mutineers, and 
also her son, had been put in irons, — arid that they were all to be 
sent home for trial. This intelligence acted so strongjy upon her, 
that she suffered a temporary alienation of judgment. The re- 
port turned out to be erroneous, but this did not avert the conse- 
quences of the agitated state of the mother's feelings upon the 
daughter she afte wards gave birth to. That daughter is now a 
woman, but she is and will continue to be a being of impulses, 
incapable of reflection, and in other respects greatly inferior to 
her sisters. 

. i The following is a melancholy instance of the operation of this 
principle, which was communicated to me by a respectable medi- 
cal practitioner, and which I have since found from inquiries in 
the neighborhood, and from seeing the subject of it, to be sub- 
stantially correct. In the summer of 1827, the practitioner allud- 
ed to was called upon to visit professionally a young woman in 
the immediate neighborhood, who was safely delivered of a male 
child. As the parties appeared to be respectable, he made some 
inquiries regarding the absence of the child's father; when the 
old woman told him that her daughter was still unmarried, that 
the child's father belonged to a regiment then in Ireland ; that 
last autumn he had obtained leave of absence to visit his relations 
in this part of the country ; and that on the eve of his departure 
to join his regiment, an entertainment was given, at which hei 
daughter attended. During the whole evening, she and the sol 
dier danced and sang together ; when heated by the toddy and 
the dance, they left the cottage, and after the lapse of an hour 
were found together in a glen, in a state of utter insensibility 
from the effects of their former ^festivity ; and the consequenct 
of this interview was the birth of an idiot. He is now nearly six 
years of his age, and his mother does not believe that he is able 
to recognise either herself or any other individual. He is quite 
incapable of making signs, whereby his wants can be made known 
•—with this exception, that when hungry he gives a wild shriek 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 375 

This is the case upon. which it would be painful to dwell ; and I 
shall only remark, that the parents are both intelligent, and that 
the fatal result cannot be otherwise accounted for than by the al- 
most total prostration or eclipse of the intellect of both parties 
from intoxication.' — Phren. Journ. vol. viii. p. 471. 

The following case affords aj^example of the effect on the 
children of unfavorable physicaWircumstances operating on the 
parents previous to birth. 

1 There are about Paris a number of beggars, twelve or thir- 
teen of them at least, all deformed in various ways, and all born 
at Lille, in certain dark caverns under the fortifications. The 
effect of these places, from their want of light, producing mal- 
formed births, is so notorious, that the Magistrates of Lilie have 
issued strict orders to pr&hibit trie poor from taking up their 
abode in them. It is added by the writer, that he had a con- 
versation with Mr. Edwards on the subject, and that gentleman 
was greatly struck with the confirmation which the above circum- 
stances afford to his views, stated in his work. ' Sur l'lnfluence 
des Agens Physiques sur la Vie.' Mr. Edwards' experiments 
of detaining tadpoles in darkness, and thus causing them to grow 
into gigantic and monstrous tadpoles, instead of their being trans- 
formed into frogs, is well known. — From London Medical Ga- 
. zette, September 1832, as quoted in Arcana of Science and Art, 
1833, p. 198. 

The operation of the same laws in the case of the lower animals 
appears to be indubitable. The following cases will serve as 
examples. 

* In Europe, the constant practice of milking cows has enlarg- 
ed the udder greatly beyond its natural size, and so changed the 
secretions, that the milk does not cease when the calf is removed. 
In Colombia, where circumstances are entirely different, nature 
shows a strong tendency to resume its original type. A cow 
gives milk there only while the calf is with her.' ' It is worthy 
of notice, that the amble, the pace to which the domestic horse 
in Spanish America is exclusively trained, become, in the course 
of some generations, hereditary, and is assumed by the young 
ones without teaching.' — Encyc. Brit, 1th edits vol. ii. p. 653, 
Art. America. The writer refers to a paper by M. Roulin, en- 
titled * Sur les Changemens survenus,' &c. in the Bulletin des 
Sciences Naturelless, Avril 1829. 

A gentleman, who has paid much attention to the rearing of 
horses, informed me, that the male race-horse, when excited, bui 



378 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 

not exhausted, by running, has been found by experience to be in 
the most favorable condition for transmitting swiftness and vivacity 
to his offspring. Another gentleman stated, that he was himself 
present when the pale gray color of a male horse was objected to , 
that the groom thereupon presented before the eyes of the male 
another female from the stable ,^pa very particular but pleasing, 
variety of colors, asserting, that the latter would determine the^ 
complexion of the offspring ; and that in point of fact it did so. 
The experiment was tried in the case of a second female, and the 
result was so completely the same, that the two young horses, 
in point of color, could scarcely be distinguished although their 
spots were extremely uncommon. The account of "Laban and the 
peeled rods laid before the cattle to produce spotted calves, is an 
example of the same kind. 

Portal mentions the hereditary descent of blindness and deaf- 
ness. His words are: c Morgagni has seen three sisters dumb 
1 d'origineS Other authors also cite examples, and I have seen like 
cases myself. In a note, he adds, ' I have seen three children 
out of four of the same family blind from birth by amaurosis, or 
gutta serena.'' — Portal, Memoires sur Plusieurs Maladies, torn. hi. 
p. 193. Paris, 1808. 

In the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. I., there are seve- 
ral valuable articles illustrative of the Organic Laws in the infe- 
rior animals. I select the following examples : 

1 Every one knows that the hen of any bird will lay eggs 
although no male be permitted to come near her ; and that those 
eggs are only wanting in the vital principle which the impregna- 
tion of the male conveys to them. Here, then, We see the female 
able to make an egg, with yolk and white, shell and every part, 
just as it ought to be, so that we might, at the first glance, sup- 
pose that here, at all events, the female has the greatest influence. 
But see the change which the male produces. Put a Bantam 
cock to a large-sized hen, and she will instantly lay.a small egg ; 
the chick will be short in the leg, have feathers to the foot, and 
put on the appearance of the cock : so that it is a frequent com- 
plaint where Bantams are kept, that they make the hens lay small 
eggs, and spoil the breed. Reverse the case ; put a large dung- 
hill cock to Bantam hens, and instantly they will lay larger eggs, 
and the chicks will be good-sized birds, and the Bantam will have 
nearly disappeared. Here, then, are a number of facts known to 
every one or at least open to be known by every one, clearly 
proving the influence of the male in some animals ; and "as I hold 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 377 

t to be an axiom that nature never acts by contraries, never out- 
rages the law clearly fixed in one species, by adopting the opposite 
course in another, — therefore, as in the case of an equilateral 
triangle on the length of one side being given, we can with cer* 
tainty demonstrate that of the remaining*; so, having found these 
laws to exist in one race of animals, we are entitled to assume 
that every species is subjected to the self-same rules, — the whole 
bearing, in fact, the same relation to each other as the radii of 
a circle.' 

Very young hens lay small eggs ; but a breeder of fowls will 
never set these to be hatched, because the animals produced 
would be feeble and imperfectly developed. They select the 
largest and freshest eggs, and endeavor to rear the healthiest 
stock possible. 

6 A method of obtaining a greater number of One Sex, at the 
option of the Proprietor, in the breeding of Live Stock. 1 — 
Extracted from the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, No. I. 
p. 63. 

* In the Annales de l'Agriculture Franchise, vols. 37 and 38, 
some very interesting experiments are recorded, which have lately 
been made in France, on the Breeding of Live Stock. M. Charles 
Girou de Buzareingues proposed, at a meeting of the Agricul- 
tural Society of Severac, on the 3d of July 1826, to divide a flock 
of sheep into two equal parts, so that a greater number of males 
or females, at the choice of the proprietor, should be produced 
from each of them. Two of the members of the Society offered 
their flocks to become the subjects of his experiments, and the re- 
sults have now been communicated, which are in accordance with 
the author's expectations.' 

' The first experiment was conducted in the following man- 
ner : He recommended very young rams to be put to the flock 
of ewes, from which the proprietor wished the greater number 
of females in their offspring; and also, that, during the season 
when the rams were with the ewes, they should have more 
abundant pasture than the other ; while, to the flock from which 
%ie proprietor wished to obtain male lambs chiefly, he recom 
mended him to put strong and vigorous rams four or five years 
old. The following tabular view contains the result of this 
experiment. 

32* 



378 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 



Flock for Female Lambs. 


Flock for Male Lambs. 


Age of the Mothers. 


Sex of the Lambs. 


Age of the Mothers. Sex of the Lambs. 


Males. Females' 

Two years, .... 14 26 
Three years, .... 16 29 
Four years, .... 5 21 

Total, 35 76 

Five years and older, 18 8 

Total, 53 84 

N B. — There were three twin-births 
in this flock. Two rams served it, one 
fifteen months, the other nearly two 
years old. 


Males. Female*. 
Two years, .... 7 3 
Three years, .... 15 14 
Four years, ... 33 14 

Total, 55 31 

Five years and older, 25 24 

Total, 80 55 

N. B. — There were no twin-births 
in this flock. Two strong rams, one 
four, the other five years old, served 
it. 



' The general law, as far as we are able to detect it, seems to 
be, that, when animals are in good condition, plentifully supplied 
with food, and kept from breeding as fast as they might do, they 
are most likely to produce females. Or, in other words, when a 
race of animals is in circumstances favorable for its increase, na- 
ture produces the greatest number of that sex which, in animals 
that do not pair, is most efficient for increasing the numbers of the 
race : But, if they are in a bad climate, or on stinted pasture, or, 
if they have already given birth to a numerous offspring, then na- 
ture, setting limits to the increase of the race, produces more males 
than females. Yet, perhaps, it may be premature to attempt 
to deduce any law from experiments which have not yet been 
sufficiently extended. M. Girou is disposed to ascribe much of 
the effect to the age of the ram, independent of the condition of 
the ewe.' 

Mr. W. B. Stevenson, in his ' Narrative of Twenty Years' 
residence in South America,' vol. i. p. 286, says, * he has always 
remarked, that in cases where parents are of different castes, the 
child receives more of the color of the father than of the mother.' 
He made extensive observations during a long residence in Lima ; 
a place, he remarks, than which there cannot be any more favor 
able for an examination of the influence of * the configuration of 
the human face, or of'its color, on the intellectual faculties.- He 
gives the following table, showing the mixture of the different^ 
castes, under their common or distinguishing names. But ' this* 
table,' says he, ' which I have endeavored to make as correct as 
possible, from personal observation, must be considered as gen- 
eral, and not including particular cases.' 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 



379 



Father. 


Mother. 


Children. 


Color. 


European, 


European, 


Creole, 


White. 


Creole, 


Creole, 


Creole, 


White. 


White, 


Indian, 


Mestiso, 


| White, | Indian—Fair. 


Indian, 


White, 


Mestiso, 


| White, | Indian. 


White, 


Mestiso, 


Creole, 


White — often very fair. 


Mestiso, 


White, 


Creole, 


White — but rather sallow. 


Mestiso, 


Mestiso, 


Creole, 


Sallow — often light hair. 


White, 


Negro, 


Mulatto, 


1 White, | Negro— often fair. 


Negro, 


White, 


Zambo, 


| White, | Negro — dark copper. 


White, 


Mulatto, 


Quarteron, 


| White, | Negro — Fair. 


Mulatto, 


White, 


Mulatto, 


| White, | Negro— Tawny. 


White, v 


Quarteron, 


Quinteron, 


1 White, | Negro — very fair. 


Quarteron, 


White, 


Quarteron, 


| White, | Negro— Tawny. 


White, 


Quinteron, 


Creole, 


White — light eyes, fair hair. 


Negro, 


Indian, 


Chino, 


| Negro, | Indian. 


Indian, 


Negro, 


Chino, 


| Negro, | Indian. 


Negro, 


Mulatto, 


Zambo, 


| Negro, | White. 


Mulatto, 


Negro, 


Zambo, 


| Negro, | White. 


Negro, 


Zambo, 


Zambo, 


if Negro, ^ White — Dark. 


Zambo, 


Negro, 


Zambo, 


1 Negro, | White. 


Negro, 


Chino, ) 

Negro, 5 
Negro, 


Zambo- ) 
Chino, } 

Zambo- > 
Chino, ( 
Vegro, 


J| Negro, ^ Indian* 


Chino, 


\ Negro, | Indian. 


Negro, 








NOTE 


III. 



LAWS RELATIVE TO MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION IN GER- 
MANY.— Text, p. 169. 

' It cannot be altogether foreign to natural history, to notice 
the influence of climate, food, and political and religious regula- 
tions on the human species ; and we are unwilling to leave Ger* 
many without saying something on so interesting a people as the 
Germans. It will not be denied that man is subject to the same 
laws as other animals, and that his natural or inborn character 
must depend principally on the climate and products of the soil 
where he is placed. His factitious, or civilized character, will as 
certainly depend on his education, taking that word in its most 
sxtensive sense, as including parental care and example, scholas* 



880 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 

tic tuition, religion, and government. In warm fertile countries, 
where nature produces every thing spontaneously, man become* 
inactive, and has naturally few labors and few enjoyments. In 
extremely cold and inhospitable climates, the enjoyments ©f man 
are also few, because the labor necessary to overcome natural 
objects is too great for his powers. It would seem, therefore, that 
intermediate climates are more favorable for human* happiness 
than either extremes ; but whether such are at all times tem- 
perate, as those of many parts of Italy and Spain, or such as are 
alternately temperate and severe, as those of the south of Ger- 
many and the north of France, are the best, may perhaps be 
doubted. It appears that a climate where the winters are severe, 
nas a considerable influence on the human character, by the 
necessity which it induces of forethought, in the laying up a pro- 
vision of food for winter, and the greater attention and labor that 
are requisite in the article of clothing for that season. It is cer- 
tain,-on the other hand, that, in climates at all times temperate^ 
the health, other circumstances being alike, must be better than 
in severe climates, where it is impaired by the artificial atmos- 
phere of apartments during the winter season ; and constant good 
health must necessarily have a considerable influence on the cha- 
racter. Supposing, therefore, all the artificial circumstances to 
be the same in two climates, such as that of the south of Ger- 
many, and that of Italy or the central parts of France, it seems 
reasonable to conclude that man would attain to a higher degree 
of perfection in the latter climates than in the former. So much 
for our theory of the influence of soil and climate on man ; and, 
for farther details, we refer the reader to Dr. Falconar's work on 
the subject. 

4 Of all the artificial or accidental circumstances which influence 
the character, personal education must be allowed to be the great- 
est, and next, religion and government. Manner of life, occupa- 
tions, and pursuits, and even amusements, have an important 
influence. To do more than premise these matters, would be 
unsuitable to this Magazine ; but what has been said became 
necessary as an introduction to what is to follow. 

1 Applying the above theory to the three states of Germany 
which we have passed through, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, and Baden, 
the climate and soil of these states seem favorable in the second 
degree ; education, to a certain extent, is there universal ; reli- 
gion is, on the whole, more simple than in some other countries , 
and the laws and government* seem, at least, equal, in constitu- 



APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS. 381 

tional merits and impartial administration, to those of any people 
in Europe. The manner of life, or occupation, is chiefly *%ac\ib 
airaj^which, though not favorable to luxury or refme/aent, 
seenl(Ptathout doubt, for the great mass of the people, the hap- 
prest mode of existence. Local and personal attachments are 
universally felt to be essential sources of happiness : and» in no 
way can this feeling be gratified so easily and effectually a^ by the, 
possession of land. In the three countries named, the great ma- 
jority of the population are occupiers in perpetuity, of a poition 
of the soil, either as absolute proprietors or as perpetual renters. 
This state of things is far from being favorable to what is called 
making money ; but it is highly favorable to health and content- 
ment. It is a great deal for a poor man to have something which 
he can call his own ; something on which he can bestow labor, 
and from which he can, in consequence, extract enjoyment. 
The absolute necessities of life are few, and derived directly from 
the soil; the laboring man, therefore, who has a house and a 
few roods of land, is certain of a home and food ; he increases the 
interest of his home by a wife ; and parental care and solicitude, 
with connubial and filial attachment, fill up the measure of his 
happiness. These are the essential purposes and enjoyments of 
life, which nature intended for all men ; which the poor man can 
enjoy as well as the rich ; and for which no other enjoyment, 
either of the rich or the poor, the wise or the learned ..can en- 
tirely compensate. In no part of Europe have we seen, or thought 
we have seen, these enjoyments so generally diffused as in the 
countries we have recently passed through, and more especially 
Wurtemberg. We entered -on these countries, expecting to find 
the people not much better off than in France ; but we could not 
resist the conviction produced by constant observation, and the 
result of various inquiry, that comfort and happiness exist to a 
much greater degree among the laboring classes of society in the 
south of Germany, than they do in Britain. The people, at first 
sight, have a milder and more civilized aspect. The dress of the 
country laborers, male and female, does not consist of such fine 
materials as in England ; but one part of the dress is of a quality 
consistent with the others, and the whole is in a superior style, 
compared with the dress of the other classes of society. There 
is no such thing, in this part of Germany, as a man or woman in 
rags, oj with a coat or gown of the best quality, and the hat or 
stockings in tatters, as is frequently the case, not only among 
laborers, but even among mechanics, in England. In short, the 



382 APPENDIX. ORGANIC LAWS 

dress in Germany is in much better keeping. Both men and 
women of the laboring class here are more intelligent in their 
aspect, much more civil and polite on a first acquaintaa^ and 
much better furnished with conversation, than the BritiSRitar- 
ers. What struck us particularly were, the great rarity of Re- 
ceptions to this general description, the general uniformity of 
manner and character throughout the whole country, and the to- 
tal absence of public beggars. On inquiry, we found that there 
were few or no poor supported publicly, though every parish is 
obliged to support its poor when unable to work ; and also, that 
there were few people in prison, either for debt or for crime of 
any kind. 

* This state of things more particularly applies to Wurtemberg ; 
and the causes, we think, may be very easily traced. The first 
and principal cause is a law respecting schools, which has existed, 
more or less, in the states of the south of Germany, for above a 
century, but which has been greatly improved within the last 
thirty years. By this Jaw, parents are compelled to send their 
shildren to school, from the age of six to fourteen years, where 
they must be taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, but where 
they may acquire as much additional instruction in other branches 
as their parents choose to pay for. To many of the schools of 
Bavaria large gardens are attached, in which the boys are taught 
the principal operations of • agriculture and gardening in their 
hours of play ; and, in all the schools of the three states, the girls 
in addition to the same instruction as the boys, are taught knit- 
ting, sowing, embroidery, &c. It is the duty of the police and 
priest, (which may be considered equivalent to our parish ves- 
tries) of each commune or parish, to see that the law is duly exe- 
cuted, the children sent regularly, and instructed duly. If the 
parents are partially or wholly unable to pay for their children, 
the commune makes up the deficiency. Religion is taught by the 
priest of the village or hamlet ; and where, as is frequently the 
case in Wurtemberg, there are two or three religions in one pa- 
rish, each child is taught by the priest of its parents ; all of which 
priests are, from their office, members of the committee or vestry 
of the commune. The priest or priests of the parish have the 
regular inspection of the schoolmaster, and are required by the 
government to see that he does his duty ; while each priest, at the 
same time, sees that the children of his flock attend regularly. 
After the child has been the appointed number of years at school, 
it receives from the schoolmaster, and the priest of the religion t« 



APPENDIX. DEATH. 383 

which it belongs, a certificate, without which it sannot procure 
employment. To employ any person under twenty-one, without 
sueh a certificate, is illegal, and punished by a'fixed fine, as is al- 
most every other offence in this part of Germany ; and the fines 
are never remitted, which makes punishment always certain. 
The schoolmaster is paid much in the same way as in Scotland ; 
by a house, a garden, and sometimes a field, and by a small salary 
from the parish ; and by fixed rates for the children. 

1 A second law, which is coeval with the school law, renders it 
illegal for any young man to marry before he is twenty-five, or any 
young woman before she is eighteen; and a young man, at whatever 
age he wishes to marry, must show to the police and the priest of 
the commune where he resides, that he is able, and has the prospect , 
to provide for a wife and family. 

1 There are minor causes, but these two laws, and the general 
possession of land both by laborers and tradesmen, are the chief. 
Amongst the minor causes are the general simplicity of their 
forms of religion, and universal toleration ; even the Catholic 
faith in Wurtemberg, is unattended with the ceremony and 
spectacle with which it is exhibited in various parts of Germany 
and France. The equal footing on which the different religions 
are placed, is a]so favorable to liberality of sentiment and good 
neighborhood. That particular mildness of feature and charac- 
ter, so different from what is met with in the laboring classes in 
England, is no doubt partly owing to the greater proportion of 
vegetables and fruits which enter into the general diet of the 
population ; the almost total abstinence from strong liquors or 
spirits, the general drink being wine ; and, perhaps, to the almost 
unremitted smoking of tobacco from morning to night. — From the 
Magazine of Natural History. 



NOTE IV. 
DEATH.— Text, p. 203. 

The decreasing Mortality of England is strikingly supported 
by the following extract from the Scotsman of 16th April, 1828. 
It is well known that this paper is edited by Mr. Charles Maclaren, 
a gentleman whose extensive information, and scrupulous regard 
to accuracy and truth, stamp the highest value on his statements 
of fact ; and whose profound and comprehensive intellect warrants 
I well-grounded reliance on his philosophical conclusions. 



*84 APPENDIX. DEATH. 

1 Diminished Mortality in England. — The diminution 
of the annual mortality in England amidst an alleged increase of 
crime, misery, and*pauperism, is an extraordinary and startling 
•act, which merits a more careful investigation than it has receiv- 
ed We have not time to go deeply into the subject ; but we 
shall offer a remark or two on the question, how the apparent an- 
nual mortality is affected by the introduction of the cow-pox, and g 
Jie stationary or progressive state of the population. In 1780, 
according to Mr. Bickman, the annual deaths were 1 in 40, or one- 
fortieth part of the population died every year; in 1821, the pro- 
portion was 1 in 58. It follows, that, out of any given number 
of persons, 1,000 or 10,000, scarcely more than two deaths take 
olace now for three that took place in 1780, or the mortality has 
diminished 45 per cent. The parochial registers of burials in Eng- 
land, from which this statement is derived, are known to be incor- 
rect, but as they continue to be kept without alteration in the 
same way, the errors of one year are justly conceived to balance 
those of another, and they thus afford comparative results, upon 
which considerable reliance may be placed. 

* A community is made up of persons of many various ages, 
among whom the law of mortality is very different. Thus, ac- 
cording to the Swedish tables, the deaths among children from the 
moment of birth up to 10 years of age, are 1 in 22 per annum ; from 
10 to 20, the deaths are only 1 in 185. Among the old again, 
mortality is of course great. From 70 to 80, the deaths are 1 in 
9 ; from 80 to 90 they are 1 in 4. Now, a community like that 
of New York or Ohio, where marriages are made early and the 
births are numerous, necessarily contains a large proportion of 
young persons, among whom the proportional mortality is low, 
ind a small proportion of the old who die off rapidly. A commu- 
nity in which the births are numerous, is like a regiment receiv- 
ing a vast number of young and healthy recruits, and in which, of 
course, as a whole, the annual deaths will be few compared with 
those in another regiment chiefly filled with veterans, though, 
among the persons at any particular age, such as 20, 40, or 50 
the mortality will be as great in the one regiment as the other. 
It may thus happen, that the annual mortality among 1,000 per- 
son? in Ohio, may be considerably less than in France, while the 
Expectation of Life, or the chance which an individual has to reach 
to a certain age, may be no greater in the former country than in 
the latter ; and hence we see that a diminution in the rate of mor- 
tality is not a certain proof of an increase in the value of life, or 
an improvement in the condition of the people. 



I 



APPENDIX. DEATH 885 

' But the effect produced by an increased number of births ia 
less than might be imagined, owing to the very great mortality 
among infants in the first year of their age. Not having time for 
the calculations necessary to get at the precise result, which are 
pretty complex, we avail ourselves of some statements given by 
Mr. Milne in his work on Annuities. Taking the Swedish tables 
as a basis, and supposing the law of mortality to remain the same 
for each period of life, he has compared the proportional number 
of deaths in a population which is stationary, and in one which 
increases 15 per cent, in 20 years. The result is, that when the 
mortality in the stationary society is one in 36.13, that in the pro- 
gressive society is one in 37.33, a difference equal to 3 J per cent. 
.Now, the population of England and Wales increased 34.3 per 
cent, in the 20 years ending in 1821, but in the interval from 
1811 to 1821, the rate was equivalent to 39J per cent, upon 20 
years ; and the apparent diminution of mortality arising from this 
circumstance must of course have been about 8J per cent. We 
are assuming, however, that the population was absolutely station- 
ary at 1780, which was not the case. According to Mr. Milne 
(p. 437), the average annual increase in the five years ending 1784, 
was ] in 155 ; in the ten years ending 1821, according to the cen- 
sus, St was 1 in 60. Deducting, then, the proportional part cor- 
responding to the former, which is 3J, there remains 5J. If Mr. 
Milne's tables, therefore, are correct, wemay infer tkgt the progres- 
sive state of the population causes a diminution of b\ per cent, m the 
annual mortality — a diminution which is only apparent, because it 
arises entirely from the great proportion of births, and is not ac- 
companied with any real increase in the value of human life. 

1 A much greater change — not apparent but real — was pro- 
duced by the introduction of the vaccination in 1798. It was 
computed, that, in 1795, when the population of the British Isles 
was 15,000,000 the deaths produced by the small-pox amounted 
to 36,000, or nearly 11 per cent, of the Whole annual mortality. 
(See article Vaccination in the Supplement to Encyclopedia Bri- 
tannica, p. 713.) Now, since not more than one case in 330 ter- 
minates fatally under the cow-pox system, either directly by the 
primary infection, or from the other diseases supervening: the 
whole of the young persons destroyed by the small-pox might be 
considered as saved, were vaccination universal, and always pro- 
perly performed. This is not precisely the case, but one or one 
and a half per cent, will cover the deficiencies ; and we may 
therefore conclude, that vaccination has diminished the annual mor 

33 



386 APPENDIX. DEATH. 

taaty fully nine per cent. After we had arrived at this conclusion 
by the process described, we found it confirmed by the authority 
of Mr. Milne, who estimates in a note to one of his tables, that 
the mortality of 1 in 40 wo*. Id be diminished to 1 in 43-5, by ex- 
terminating the small-pox. Now, this is almost precisely 9 per 
cent. 

1 We stated, that the diminution of the annual mortality be- 
tween 1790 and 1821 was 45 per cent., according- to Mr. Rickman. 
If we deduct from this 9 per cent, for the effect of vaccination, 
and 5 per cent, as only apparent, resulting from the increasing 
proportion of births — 31 per cent, remains, which, we apprehend, 
can only be accounted for by an improvement in the habits, morals, and 
physical condition of the people. Independently, then, of the two 
causes alluded to, the value of human life since 1780, has increas- 
ed in a ratio which would diminish the annual mortality from 1 
in 40 to 1 52 J, — a fact which is indisputably of great importance 
and worth volumes of declamation in illustrating the true situa- 
tion of the laboring classes. We have founded our conclusion on 
data derived entirely from English returns ; but there is no doubt 
that it applies equally to Scotland. It is consoling to find, from 
this very unexceptionable species of evidence, that though there 
is much privation and suffering in the country, the situation of the 
people has been, on the whole, progressively improving during 
the last forty years. But how much greater would the advance 
have been, had they been less taxed, and better treated? and how 
much room is there still for future amelioration, by spreading in- 
struction, amending our laws, lessening the temptations to crime, 
and improving the means of correction and reform ? In the mean 
time, it ought to be some encouragement to philanthropy to 
learn, that it has not to struggle against invincible obstacles, and 
that even when the prospect was least cheering to the eye, its 
efforts were silently benefitting society.' 

Extract from" Edinburgh Advertiser 13th January 1829 ; ' The 
following comparative table of the average duration of life at 
Geneva, during the last 260 years, is very remarkable. The 
growing improvement affords a striking proof of the benefits re* 
suiting from the progress of civilization and the useful arts. 

From 1560 to 1600, - - 

1601 to 1700, .... 

1701 to 1760, - - - - 

1761 to 1800, .... 

1801tol814, .... 

1815 to 1826, .... 



Average 


ruration. 


Years. 


Months, 


18 


5 


23 


5 


32 


8 


33 


7 


38 


6 


38 


10 



APPENDIX. DEATH. 387 

It has been mentioned to me, that the late Dr. Monro, in his 
anatomical lectures, stated, that, as far as he could observe, the 
human body, as a machine, was perfect, — that it bore within it- 
self no marks by which we could possibly predicate its decay,— 
that it was apparently calculated to go on for ever, — and that we 
teamed only by experience that it would not do so ; and some 
persons have conceived this to be an authority against the doc- 
trine maintained in Chap. III. Sect. 2, that death is apparently 
inherent in organization. In answer, I beg to observe, that if we 
were to look at the sun only for one moment of time, say at noon, 
no circumstance, in its appearance would indicate that it had ever 
risen, or that it would ever set ; but, if we had traced its progress 
from the horizon to the meridian, and down again till the long 
shadows of evening prevailed, we should have ample grounds for 
inferring, that, if the same causes that had produced these changes 
continued to operate, it wquld undoubtedly at length disappear. 
In the same way, if we were to confine our observations on the 
human body to a mere point of time, it is certain that, from the 
Appearances of that moment, we could not infer that it had grown 
ap, by gradual increase, or that it would decay ; but this is the 
jase only, because our faculties are not fitted to penetrate into the 
essential nature and dependences of things. Any man, who had 
seen the body decrease in old age, could, without hesitation, 
predicate, that, if the same causes which had produced that effect 
went on operating, dissolution would at last inevitably occur ; and, 
if his Causality were well developed, he would not hesitate to 
say that a cause of the* decrease and dissolution must exist, al- 
though he could not tell by examining the body what it was. By 
analyzing alcohol, no person could predicate, independently of 
experience, that it would produce intoxication .; and, nevertheless, 
there must be a cause in the constitution of the alcohol, in that of 
the body, and in the relationship between them, why it produce3 
this effect. The notion, therefore, of Dr. Monro, does not pro**** 
that death 'is not an essential law of organization, bat onl* .u at 
the human faculties are not able, by dissection, to discover that 
the cause of it is inherent in the bodily constitution kself. It does 
not follow, however, that this inference may not be legitimately 
drawn from phenomena collected from the whole period of cor- 
poreal existence. 



388 APPENDIX.- — EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION. 



NOTE V. 

EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION FOR PROCURING INSTRUCTION .3* 
USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING SCIENCES.— Text, p. 213. 

The history of this Association is briefly stated in one of its 
reports. ' In the summer of 1832, several individuals, engaged 
in mercantile and trading avocations, and who were then attending 
Mr. Combe's evening course of lectures on Phrenology, expressed 
a strong desire for a more extended course during winter, along 
with lectures on some other subjects of natural science. With 
this view, they resolved to form themselves into an Association 
for procuring such instruction, at convenient hours and on moder- 
ate terms ; and in order to make the public acquainted with their 
intentions, as well as to ascertain the support likely to be obtain- 
ed, they printed and circulated a " Proposal for Courses of Lec- 
tures on natural History, Chemistry, and Phrenology combined 
with Physiology." ' These lectures were intended for the instruc- 
tion of persons of both sexes, belonging chiefly to the middle 
classes of society. They have been completely successful. 

The regulations of the Association are the following : — 

' I. The name of the Institution shall be, The Edinburgh 
Association for providing Instruction in Useful and 
Entertaining Sciences. 

1 II. The subjects for lectures shall be left to the judgment of 
the Directors for the time being. 

c III. There shall be twenty-four Directors, one-half of whom 
shall be annually changed, and an equal number elected, by a 
general meeting of the members ; and the said Directors shall, 
from among their own number, choose a President, Treasurer, and 
Secretary. 

4 IV. An annual payment of one guinea shall entitle the contri- 
butor to free tickets for all the lectures, to vote in the election of 
Directors, and to enjoy all the other privileges of an ordinary 
member. 

' V. Individuals shall be allowed to purchase tickets for admis- 
sion to one or more of the lectures, without becoming regular 
members. 

' VI. The funds shall be deposited in a respectable bank, (at 
present being so lodged,) in the names of the President, Treasur- 
er, and Secretary. 



APPENDIX. EDINBURGH ASSOCIATION 



389 



* VII. After the present season, the annual meeting of mem- 
bers for the election of office-bearers, and other general business, 
shall he held in the month of March.' 

The last report of the Association, dated October 1834, men- 
tions, that ' in November 1832, lectures on Phrenology, Chemis- 
try, and Geology, were commenced, under the auspices of the 
Association. At this early period the number of subscribers ex- 
ceeded all expectation ; and the courses which have since been 
given on Botany, Popular Education, Natural Philosophy, Astro- 
nomy, and Physiology, have likewise met with the most marked 
success. The following abstract of the pecuniary transactions to 
the close of last session, will show the great interest which has 
been taken by the public in the proceedings of the Association :— • 



■ TOTAL RECEIPT AND EXPENDITURE FOR SESSIONS 1832-3, 
AND 1833-4. 



Classes. 



Phrenology, 

Chemistry, 

Geology, 

Three Lectures on Education, given separate- 
ly in April, 1833, .,....♦.. 

Botany, day class, 

Botany, evening class, 

Three Lectures on Education, given in No-I 
vember, 1833 (in addition to the holders of 
Tickets to any of the other classes, who > 
were admitted to the Lectures on Educa- 1 
tion free), J 

Natural Philosophy, 

Astronomy, ► . 

Physiology, . . . 



Tickets 
sold. 



225 
229 
251 



60 
192 



245 
311 
309 



1822 
Interest from Bank, 



Visiters ad- 
mitted at 
6d. each. 



387 
142 

242 at Is. 

33 do. 
163 



340 



406 

231 at Is. 

330 



3267 



Receipts. 



£115 16 4 



100 
73 



7 9 
2 2 



12 2 

38 5 
75 12 



6 10 



110 3 
313 8 9 
95 17 9 



£743 2 
5 1 



Paid Lecturers, and other charges, 
Surplus at 26th June, 1834, 



£748 3 
605 12 4 



£ 142 10 8 



1 In comparison with some other institutions, the pecuniary 
means of this Association have been limited; but still they' have 
been more than sufficient for defraying all necessary expenses. 
These expenses, too, have been considerable, particularly for 
room-rent, fittings, advertising, and printing; for, besides the 
original prospectus, the Directors have already printed, and wide- 
ly circulated, four detailed reports, comprehensive syllabuses fot 

S3* »a 



390 APPENDIX. MORAL LAW*. 

the three season courses of lectures, and tabular view of the 
Linnean system of classification of plants, with explanatory re- 
marks, amounting in all to 7500 copies. Certain fundamental 
principles have been steadily kept in view, viz. that no reliance 
should be placed on eleemosynary aid — -that the Directors should 
be regularly changed — that the instruction should be interesting, 
practical, and useful — that it should be applicable to both sexes 
from twelve years of age and upwards — and that full value should 
be given to the subscribers for their money, as well as a reasona- 
ble remuneration to the lecturers for their services. By continu- 
ing to act upon these principles, and by securing the aid of well 
qualified teachers, the directors confidently hope for a continu- 
ance of public support,' 



SVOTE VI. 
INFRINGEMENT OF THE MORAL LAWS,— T«xt, p. 826. 

The deterioration of the operative classes of Britain, which I 
attribute to excessive labor, joined with great alternations of high 
and low wages, and occasionally with absolute idleness and want, 
is illustrated by the following extract from a Report on Emigra- 
tion by a Committee of the House of Commons : — 

* Joseph Foster, a weaver, and one of the deputies of an emi- 
gration society in Glasgow, states that the labor is all paid by the 
piece; the hours of working are various, sometimes eighteen or 
nineteen out of twenty-four, and even all night once or twice 
a-week ; and that the wages made by such labor, after deducting 
the necessary expenses, will not amount to more than 4s. 6d. to 
7s. per. week, some kinds of work paying better than others 
When he commenced as a weaver, from 1800 to 1805, the same 
amount of labor that now yields 4s. 6d. or 5s. would have yielded 
20s. There are about 11,000 hand-looms going in Glasgow and* 
its suburbs, some of which are worked by boys and girls, and he 
estimates the average net earnings of each hand-weaver at 5s. 6d. 
The principal subsistence of the weavers is oatmeal and potatoes, 
with occasionally some salt herrings. 

* Major Thomas Moodie, who had made careful inquiries into 
the state of the poor at Manchester, states, that the calico and 
other light plain work at Bolton and Blackburn yields the weaver 
from 4». to 5a. per week, by fourteen hours of daily labor. In tht 



APPENDIX. MORAL LAWS. 891 

power -loom work, one man attends two looms, and earns from 
7s 6d. to 14s. per week, according to the fineness of the work. 
He understood that during the last ten years, weavers' wages 
had fallen on an average about 15s. per week. 

* Mr. Thomas Hutton, manufacturer, Carlisle, states, that 
there are in Carlisle and its neighborhood about 5500 families, 
or from 18,000 to 20,000 persons dependent on weaving. They 
are all hand-weavers, and are now in a very depressed state, in 
consequence of the increase of power-loom and factory weaving* 
in Manchester and elsewhere. Taking fifteen of his men., he 
finds that five of them, who were employed on the best work, had 
earned 5s. 6d. per week for the preceding month, deducting the 
necessary expenses of loom-rent, candles, tackling, &c. ; the next 
five, who are upon work of the second quality, earned 3s. lid.; 
and the third five earned 3s. 7Jd. per week. They work from 
fourteen to sixteen hours a-day, and live chiefly on potatoes, but- 
termilk, and herrings, 

1 Mr. W. H. Hyett, Secretary to the Charity Committee in 
London, gives a detailed statement, to show, that, in the Hun- 
dred of Blackburn, comprising a population of 150,000 persons, 
90,000 were out of employment in 1826 ! In April last, when he 
gave his evidence before the Committee, these persons had gen 
erally found work again, but at very low wages. They were 
laboring from . twelve to fourteen hours a-day, and gaining from 
4s. to 5s. 6d. per week.' 

' Extract from Lord Advocate Sir William Rae's Speech in the 
House of Commons, Wth March 1828, on the additional Circuit 
Court of Glasgow. 

1 The Lord- Advocate, in rising to move for leave to bring in a 
bill to ' authorize an additional Court of Justiciary to be held at 
Glasgow, and to facilitate criminal trial in Scotland,' said he did 
not anticipate any opposition to the motion. A great deal had 
been said of the progress of crime in this country, but he was 
sorry to say crime in Scotland had kept pace with that increase. 
A return had been made of the number of criminal commitments 
in each year, so far back as the year 1805. In that year the num- 
ber of criminal commitments for all Scotland amounted only to 

* In what is called factory- weaving, an improved species of hand-loom is em- 
ployed, in which the dressing and preparation of the web is effected by machine 
ry, and the weaver merely sits and drives the shuttle. 



392 APPENDIX. MORAL LAWS. 

85. In 1809 it had risen to between 200 and 300 ; in 1819-20, it 
had increased to 400 ; and, by the last return, it appeared, that, 
in 1827, 661 persons had been committed for trial. He was in- 
clined to think that the great increase of crime, particularly in the 
west of Scotland, was attributable, in no small degree, to the 
number of Irish who daily and weekly arrived there. He did not 
mean to say that the Irish themselves were in the habit of com- 
mitting more crime than their neighbors ; but he was of opinion, 
that their numbers tended to reduce the price of labor, and that 
an increase of crime was the consequence. Another cause was 
the great disregard manifested by parents for the moral education 
of their children. Formerly the people of Scotland were remark- 
able for the paternal care which they took of their offspring. That 
had ceased in many instances to be the case. Not only were 
parents found who did not pay attention to the welfare of their 
children, but who were actually parties to their criminal pursuits, 
and participated in the fruits of their unlawful proceedings. 
When crime was thus on the increase, it was necessary to take 
measures for its speedy punishment. The great city of Glasgow, 
which contained 150,000 inhabitants, and to which his proposed 
measure was meant chiefly to apply, stood greatly in need of some 
additional jurisdiction. This would appear evident, when it was 
considered that the court met there for the trial of capital offences, 
had' also to act in the districts of Renfrew, Lanark, and Dumbar- 
ton. In 1812, the whole number of criminals tried in Glasgow 
was only 31 ; in 1820, it was 83 ; in 1823, it was 85 ; and in 1827, 
211. — The learned lord concluded by moving for leave to bring in 
a bill to authorize an additional circuit court of justiciary to be 
held at Glasgow, and to facilitate criminal trial in Scotland.' 



INDEX. 



Acquisitiveness, 52, 62, 70, 78, 345. 

Adhesiveness, 52, 60, 74. 

Alison, Mr., on the easy childbirths 
among the lower orders, 371. 

Amativeness, 51, 6«, 77, 1 15, 345. 

America, evils anticipated from slavery 
in the U. States of, 253. Cruelties of 
the Spaniards in, 256. Penitentia- 
ries in, 265. 

American Indians, character of the, 171. 

American war, 245. 

Animals, their constitution compared 
with that of man, 1, 3, 42, 110. He- 
reditary transmission of their quali- 
ties, 158, 423, 425. Punishment in- 
flicted by them on each other, 269, et 
seq. 

Aristides's advice as to the burning of 
the Grecian ships, 246. 

Aristocracy, source of the unhappiness 
of the, 239. 

Barometer, its utility in foretelling 
storms, 301. 

Barrow, Dr., his interpretation of Reve- 
lation in connection with Nature, 333. 

Benevolence, sentiment of, 52, 67, 79. 

Bible, divisions of, 344. Contains nu- 
merous descriptions of human charac- 
ter, ib. Teaches that different talents 
are given to different individuals, 349. 

Bla-ckstone on the laws of nature, 368. 

Bonaparte's mother, a woman of supe- 
rior talent and courage, 163. 

Brahmins, their children naturally supe- 
rior to those of other Hindoo castes, 
153. 

Brain the organ of the mind, 122. Ne- 
cessity of exercising it, 122, etseq. Its 
form and qualities transmissible from 
parents to children, 155, 209, 311, 421. 
By improving the brain we may im- 
prove human character, 334 

Breeding of live stock, 377. 

Bridge water bequest, 20. 

Britain too exclusively manufacturing 
and commercial, 231, 238. Corruption 
of her government arising indirectly 
from the slave trade, 242. Strictures 
on her conduct in entering on the 
American war, 245. Her national debt 
the punishment of foolish wars, 219. 

Brown, Dr. John, of Haddington, his 
complaint about the repeal of penal 
statutes against witches, 342. 

Butler, Bishop, on the government of 
God, 30. On the supremacy of con- 
science. 43. On the extent t .> which 



suffering results from our own con- 
duct, 288. His interpretation ot Re- 
velation in connection with Nature, 
332. 

Caldwell, Dr. Charles, 285, 287 

Cautiousness, 52, 66, 90. 

Chalmers, Dr., on the means of human 
improvement, 102. 

Childbirth, pains of, 119, 371. 

Children, resemblance of, to their pa- 
rents, 152, etseq., 373. See Heredi- 
tary transmission. 

Christianity has proved itself insuffi- 
cient, while unaided by physical sci- 
ence, to produce moral conduct among 
men, 335. Practical Christianity, how 
to be realized, 234. 

Christians, primitive, charged with 
atheism and impiety, 330. 

Circassian brain, 162. 

Clergy, their zeal in persecuting and 
tormenting witches, 341. Ought they 
to teach the natural as well as reveal- 
ed laws of God ? 364. See Religion. 

Clerks, evils arising from a bad choice 
of, 182. 

Combination laws, 226. 

Combativeness, 51, 62. 

Commercial prosperity and distress, 227, 
311,390. 

Conscientiousness, 53, 68, 81. 

Constitution of man, general view of 
the, and its relations to external ob- 
jects, 1. 

Constructiveness 52, 78. 

Cow per on the punishment of the Span- 
iards for their cruelties in America 
257. 

Crime, origin of, 276. How to be pre- 
vented, 277. Increase of, in Scotland, 
391. 

Criminals, punishment of, 270. Brains 
of, 275. 

Deafness and dumbness hereditary, 152 
Deaf, 36, 383. A natural institution 
* 187, 203. 

Depravity of the human mind, 333. 
Destructiveness, 52, 62, 77, 345. 
Disease, predisposing causes of, 128, el 

seq. At different ages, 197. 
Doddridge, Dr. his interpretation of Re 

velation in connection with Nature 

332. 
Dogs, acquired habits of, heredita v,158 
Drunken fathers produce infer! chi) 

dren, 373 



394 



Edinburgh, great fires in, 295. Edin- 
burgh Association for procuring Sci- 
entific Instruction, 388. 

Education, Dr;. Chalmers on its power to 
improve the human race, 102. Utility 
of, 124. Classical and scientific com- 
pared, 214. Utility of phrenology in 
relation to, 353. What it ought to be, 
362. State of, in Wurtemberg, 382. 

Eggs of hens, 376. 

Emancipation of the Negro slaves, 252, 
255. 

Erskine on the laws of nature, 368. 

, Ebenezer, his account of the 

despondency of his wife, 142. 

Evil. See Misery. 

Excise laws, their oppressive and unjust 
operation fifty years ago, 243. 

Exercise indispensable to happiness, 47, 
84, et seq. 122, 232. 

Expediency and justice always accord- 
ant, 232. 

Faculties of man, summary of the, 51,58, 
etseq. Compared with each other, 55. 
Compared with external objects, 77. 

Fall of man, 14, et seq. 188. 

Fire, benefits accruing from its proper 
use, and evils from its misapplication, 
263. 

Fires in Edinburgh in 1824, causes of, 
295. 

Firmness, one of the faculties, 53, 82. 

Flint's account of the American In- 
dians, 171. 

Fo;>d, relation of, to climate, 48. 

French Revolution, 250. Philosophers 
of the, 369. 

Friends, faithless, 61. 

Friendship, 60, 74. 

Future state, 24, 201, 208 

Geology, truths revealed by, 4, 186. 
Scripture geology, 329. 
r Germany, burning of witches in, 338. 
State of the lower orders in, 381. 
Education in, 382. 

Globe, progressively adapted for the re- 
ception of man, 4, 186. 

God, existence and attributes of, dis- 
coverable from his works, 1, 79. Pro- 
fessor Sedgwick and Bishop Butler on 
his government, xii. 30. Locke on 
his benevolence and justice, 109. 
Principles on which his laws seem to 
be instituted, 262. 

Government, ought it to interfere with 
industry? 236. 

Gravitation, law of, results of obedierfce 
to, and neglect of, 44, 110, 314. 

Gregory, Drs. James ind John, on the 
hereditary transmission of mental 
qualities, 153. 

Happiness, how attainable, 8, 9, 84, 206. 
Why so little advance has been made 
in the pursuit of, 101. Influence of the 
natural laws on that of individuals, 
313. 



Hare, murderer, engraving of his head 
147. 

Harmonious gratification of the facul- 
ties necessary to happiness, 59, 71, 95 

Head, different forms of, 145. See Brain 
Phrenology. 

Health, prerequisites of, 46, 47, 117. 

Hens, their eggs how made to vary in 
size, 376. 

Hereditary transmission of bodily and 
mental qualities, 119, 152, et seq. 275, 
311, 320, 372; and of acquired habits, 
158,375. Advantage of crossing the 
breed, 181. 

History exhibits man progressively im- 
proving, 10, 222. 

Honesty the best policy, 248. 

Hope, sentiment of, 53, 67, 80. 

Human nature. See Man. Constitu 
tion of Man. 

Ideality, 53, 68, 80. 

Imitation, one of the faculties, 53, 82. 

Independence of the natural laws, 21, 

34. 
Intellectual faculties, 53, 82. Intended 

to be exercised, 88. Intellectual laws, 

33. 

James 1. of England, his pusillanimity 
accounted for, 163. 

Jesus Christ, offices of, 344. 

Johnson, Samuel, on the evils arising 
from hasty marriages, 151. 

Jury trial in Scotland, errors in the 
mode of conducting it pointed out, 292. 

Justice always in accordance with ex- 
pediencv, 246. Defective administra- 
tion of, 288. 

Knowledge, acquisition of, agreeable, . 

• 86. Happiness advances with, 104. 
Knowledge of science necessary for 
rightly interpreting Scripture, 325, et 
seq. 

Labor, man intended for, 49, 232. Evils 
arising attending its excess, 224, 230, 
390. 

Lawrence, Mr., on the easy child births 
of savages, 372. , 

Laws of nature, 29. Three great classes 
of, 21, 32. Their independe»ce, 21, 34 
Definition of the term. 28. Obedience 
to each rewarded, and neglect punish 
ed, 34. Universal, invariable, and un- 
bending, ib. In harmony with the 
whole constitution of man, 35. Ap- 
plication of, to the practical arrange- 
ments of life, 97. Punishment inflict- 
ed under the, 260. Instituted for the 
benefit of created beings, 362. Moral 
advantages of punishment under 
them, 287. Their combined opera 
tion, 292. ''Their influence on the hap- 
piness of individuals, 3!3. Extracts 
from authors who have treated of, 367 

Legislation, utility of Phrenology in re 
'ation to 354. 



INDEX. 



495 



Life lovcrf, 51, 60, 198. Duration of, 
increasing, 202, 383. Plan of, 97. 
. Locke on the objects of divine punish- 
ments, 109. 
Love of Approbation, 52, 64, 78. 

Love thy neighbor as thyself,' 105. 
Lyon, Captain, unsuccessful result of 
his attempt, to reach Repulse Bay 
traced to its causes, 302. 

Machinery, anticipated moral effects 
from employment of, in manufac- 
tures, 232. 

Maclaren, Charles, on the diminution 
of mortality in England, 383. 

Malthus's principle of population, 220. 

Man, docttine of the fall of, 14, et seq. 
Man considered as a physical being, 
43; as an organized being, 46 ; as an 
animal, moral, and intellectual being, 
47. Intended for activity, 47, 84, 232. 
Summary of his mental faculties, 51, 
58, et seq". Tbese compared with each 
other, 55, and with external ohjects, 
77. A progressive being, 10, 103. Ap- 
parently but. in the infancy of his ex- 
istence', 106. Slowness of his pro- 
gress, 236 

Manufacturing population, source of 
miseries of the, 224, 390. 

Marriage, 59, 119, 232, et seq. Miseries 
arising from neglect of the organic 
laws in, 177. Prohibited before the 
age of twentv-five in Wurtemberg, 
383. 

Melancthon, engraving of his head, 149. 

's opinion of the laws of God, 

348. 

Mind, represented in Scripture as liable 
to commit every species of wicked- 
ness — and possessing moral qualities, 
347. % 

Miseries of mankind, how far referrible 
to infringements of the laws of nature, 
109. 

Misery and evil, sources of, particular- 
ly nienticWied in this work. — 111 sorted 
and too earlv marriages, 59, 119, 146, 
150, 168, 177, 180, 374. Ignorance, 
97, 13Q. Breach of the phvsical laws, 
J 12, 303. idleness, 126, 239. Filth, 
and impurity of air, 128. Ignorance 
of the organic laws, or phvsiologv, 
,134,139, 140, 215, 265. Bad choice 
of servants, clerks, partners, and 
agents, 182, 218. Rash mercantile 
speculation, 215. Mistaken choice of 
a profession, 215. Excess of popula- 
tion, 220. Too severe and long con- 
tinued labor, 231. Oscillations of 
trade and manufactures, 237. Na- 
tional selfishness and unjust wars, 
240—259. The slave trade, 242, 253. 
Errors in the mode of conducting 
Jury trials, 293; and in the proceed- 
ings of Judges in the Circuit Courts, 
294. Scotch and English hostility, 
294. Selfishness in captains of ships, 
299. 



Montesquieu on the laws of nature 367 

Moral laws, 21, 33. Calamities arising 
from their infringement, 203. 

Moral sentiments and intellect, supre- 
macy of the, 55. 

Moral science outstripped by physical, 

More, Hannah, on the effects of sickness 
on the religious character, 144. 

Mortality, diminution of, 46, 202, 383. 

Moscow, French retreat from, 125. 

Murray, Captain, his mode of preserv- 
ing the health of seamen, 136. 

National brains and character, 155, 1C1, 
170. 



prosperity, effect of the moral 

law on, 240. 

wars absurd, 246. 



debt of Britain the result of he! 

wars, 249. 
Natural Laws. See Laws of Nature. 
Navigation, dangers of, 218. 
Negro slavery, 242, 253. 
Nervous energy, 125. 
New doctrines often charged with im 

piety, 330. 
New Hollanders, 170. 
New Zealanders, their excellent health, 

117. Prognosticate storms, 301. 

Operatives, causes of their depressed 
condition, 224, 390. 

Opium, benefits accruing from its pro- 
per, and evils from its improper, use, 
265. 

Optimism, 4, 37. 

Organic laws, 21, 32. Evils that befal 
mankind from infringing them, 115, 
214,-315. 

Organized being, man considered as as, 
46. 

Owen, Mr., 101. 

Pain, utility of, 267. 

Paley on the contrivances in creation, 
37. 

Parliamentary reform, 252. 

Partners, evils arising from a bad choice 
of, 192, 219. 

Paul, St., his doctrines in harmony with 
Phrenology, 348. 

Penitentiaries, 285. 

Pestilence, 128. 

Philoprogenitiveness, 51, 58, 70, 77 

Phrenologv, ix. 18, 105, 150, 183, et seg, 
204—5, 275, 333. Human faculties 
according to^ 51. Practical utility o 
343. 

Phvsical laws, 21, 32. How man may 
be placed in accordance with them 
43. Calamities arising from their in 
fringement, 110. 

Phvsiologv ought to be generally studi- 
ed. 120." 

Plutarch, on the children of drunken 
parents, 373. 

Politics, utility of phrenology in relatiol 



596 



im*EX. 



Population, Malthus's principle of, 220. 
Increase of in manufacturing towns, 
223. 

Principles, utility of a knowledge of, 
133. 

Prichard, Dr., on the hereditary descent 
of bodily peculiarities, 160. 

Profession, choice of a, 216. 

Propagation, laws of, 116, et seq. 152, et 
seq. Advantage of crossing the breed, 
181. See Hereditary Transmission. 

Punishment for breach of the natural 
laws, 260. Punishment inflicted by 
the lower animals compared with that 
inflicted by man, 270, et seq. Of 
criminals, ib. Flogging, the tread- 
mill, executions, 287. Moral advan- 
tages of punishment, 287. 

Reform of Parliament, 252. 

Religion and religious opinions, 24, 38, 
98, 142—6, 234, 287, 325* 349, 356. See 
Clergy. Revelation. Scripture. 

Remorse, its occurrence after offences, 
how reconcilable with benevolence, 
81. 

Retirement from business generally fol- 
lowed by unhappiness, 127. 

Revelation, 38. Cannot be at variance 
with true science, 332. 

Right and wrong, natural distinction 
between, 283. 

Royal families, degeneracy of, 163, 181. 

Safety-lamps, 130. 

Savages, easy child-births among, 372. 

Science, physical has far outstripped 
moral, 257. Relation between science 
and scripture, 325. Progress of scien- 
tific discovery, 107. 

Scotland, persecution of witches in, 
339. Increase of crime in, 391. 

Scripture, interpretation of, 15, 24. 
Relation between, and phrenology, 
344. Agreement between, 349. A 
knowledge of science necessary for 
correctly interpreting it, 325, et seq. 
Its meaning appears different to differ- 
ent minds, 325. 

Seamen, Captain Murray's mode of pre- 
serving the health of, 136. 

Seceders, their solemn complaint as to 
the repeal of penal statutes against 
witches, 342. 

Secretiveness, 50, 63, 78,345. 

Sedgwick, Professor, on God's govern- 
ment of the world by general laws, 
rii. On scripture and science, 328. 

©elf-esteem, 52, 63, 78, 345. 

Servants, rhoice of, 182, 219. 

Sheep, acquired habits hereditary in, 



Sheridan, R. B., 61. Engraving of hit 

head, 148. 
Shipwreck from neglect of the natura 

laws, 298, 310. 
Sickness, amount of, at different ages. 

196. 
Slave-trade, corruption of the British 

government indirectly flowing from 

the, 242, 253. 
Slavery in the United States, evils anti- 
cipated from, 253. 
Social law, calamities from infringe- 
ment ot the, 217. 
Society, advantages resulting from, 217 
Spaniards punished under the natural 

laws for their cruelties in America, 

256. ' 
Spurzheim on the natural laws, vii. 
St. Pierre on death, 191, 193. 
Stevenson, Mr. W. B. on the colors of 

mixed American breeds, 378. 
Stewart's classification of the activ* 

and moral powers, 345. 
Storms at sea, often prognosticate, 300, 

et seq. 
Stuarts, hereditary character of the. 153 
Supremacy of the moral sentiments and 

intellect, 43, 55, 351. Happiness aris 

ing therefrom, 210. 

Tell, William, 260. 

Truth, slow progress of, 285. 

Vaccination, diminution of mortality 
. by, 385. 
Vanity, 64. 
Veneration, 53, 67, 79. 
Ventilation and health, 46, 293. 
Virtue conducive to happiness, 16. 
Volney on the laws of nature, 369. 

Wages, lowness of, 224, 234, 390. 

War, the American, 245. Wars absurd, 
246. French revolutionary war, 250. 
National punishment for engaging in 
wars, ib. _ 

Wealth, engrossing pursuit of, 215, 231 
237. 

Whately, Archbishop, on scripture and 
science, 326. 

Williams, murderer, engraving of hit 
head, 147. 

Witches, appalling atrocities perpetrafr 
ed against them in Germar.y, 338. 
England, ib. and Scotland, 339* 

Women, their pains in child-birth, 118, 
371. 

Wonder, sentiment of, 53, 68, 80. 

Wurtemburg, law in, rendering educa- 
tion indispensable, and prohibiting 
marriage before the age of twenty- 
five, 382. 



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